


His Name Is Veronica

by orphan_account



Category: Best Song Ever - One Direction (Music Video), One Direction (Band)
Genre: Age Difference, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Genderqueer Character, Other, Slurs, Viam
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-08-31
Updated: 2014-12-24
Packaged: 2017-12-25 00:08:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 23,982
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/946327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Liam had no idea how his summer would turn out when it began, pessimistic from the start. However, it takes a lovely turn when he befriends his neighbor, Veronica, who turns out to be a lot more than she seems.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A special thanks to my dearest friend, for recreating all my bullshit into something worth reading. If there was no you, there'd be no "His Name is Veronica", you know who you are. ♥

Liam was up early today which made his mother especially happy. He never had time to sit down and have a decent breakfast during the school year so he was glad to see it in the morning. He was sure that this was some type of commendation for not having his friends waiting for him at the house this morning. He didn't blame her honestly. He liked his mates for the most part but when it came down to it, they were truly the worst. Now, the only time he would see them would be when he was doing his Summer Youth work around the neighbourhood. Though, last year they single-handedly ruined that too so he’s sure it won’t last long enough for him to get enough money for a car that’ll get him from A to B. He spent the first few days of summer dicking around between comic books and old Disney movies, he felt beyond unaccomplished. His mother always had company over in the morning to sit on their patio, sip tea and gossip. He eavesdropped from time to time, never really taking much interest in the gabbling of a flock of women his mother’s age but today’s topic caught his interest.

“ _A man_?” he heard his mother whisper harshly and loudly. The harbinger nodded, a disturbed look on her face as she did so.

"Unless, she has a little boyfriend who stays over and looks _exactly_ like her! Then the _her_ in question is no _her_ at all.” 

Liam stole a glance to the group of woman, they all had expressions on their faces that looked like they just found a sex offender. They started to whisper and more and more he heard them spit out strong words and phrases about the suspect like “abomination” and “menace to society”, words that he wouldn't use to describe anyone in his neighbourhood no matter how much of a nuisance they could be. Some even suggested that she was a prostitute because no one around here would hire someone like “it”.

He knows who they’re talking about, actually. A month before school ended, he was walking home from school and one of his mates told him about the person (“Mate, y’know there’s a tranny living down the way from ya?”). 

He’s seen them before and he figured that there was no way. The girl (or maybe guy, he had his doubts) who lived down the way from him had a frail figure, slender fingers, bright eyes and a pretty smile. They didn't look at all like the so-called “trannies” Liam saw on the telly or when his family took a trip to London for a family reunion.

Whenever Liam passed the house later that month, they would often be in the window, watching him come back from school. Mostly when Liam would pass the house, they would smile and wave at him from the window or their porch and Liam would return the favour. On rare occasions, when his mates would walk home with him, they would close the curtains and hide behind them. The lads wouldn’t notice, but Liam looked every time.

They were just lovely overall, not the abomination these woman were describing them as.

"How odd, and why this part of Wolverhampton or even Wolverhampton at all? I mean, I don’t think this is really their type of... scene?" The ladies nodded in agreement.

"Well all I know is that _this_ woman and her family will not be going near _that_ house” the woman pointed to her chest and looked accusingly at the other woman, hoping they would figure the same. Liam took that as his cue to go back into the house, knowing his mother will draw him into the conversation soon enough.

Hardly any of his friends responded to the text messages he sent them asking to hang out today, those who did were either too busy or too far away. So he pulled his bike out of his garage and decided he would take himself to the park.

He never really was the type of kid who had many friends growing up so he had learned the hard way to have fun on his own. With hardly any reliable friends, he still had to bring back that skill but he didn't mind. Sometimes he felt it was better this way because he knew that his mates now wouldn’t be his mates forever. The school year had just ended for him and he’s going to become an adult soon and have to step into an adult world that he knew most of his friends aren't prepared to face. 

As he’s riding out of his neighbourhood, he sees her again. She has a few carrier bags full of what he assumes are groceries, he doesn't stare long enough to guess. He gets closer and she finally notices him and Liam feels his palms getting sweaty.

"Hello, neighbour."

Liam stumbles off his bike when he hears her… his voice. It’s deep, not a feminine deep, definitely a masculine deep. He slams his hands down on the gravel-y concrete to stop himself from landing face first. He scrapes the heel of his hands and his knee in the process but his face is fine. If the ground didn't hurt so bad, he would've stayed there until they decided to leave him. He knew, deep down, he embarrassed them and himself with his dramatic reaction. Liam attempted to recover, pushing himself off the ground only to wince over the pain in his knee. Then he heard a soft chuckle.

"Believe it or not, that is probably the least offensive reaction I've gotten, so far."

"I- Sorry- Hey…" Liam pulled his bike off the ground and swung a leg over it and then the voice came again before he could pull off.

"You’re bleeding, pretty boy…" Liam paused again, one foot on the pedal and the other on the ground, holding both him and the bike up. He had a firm grip on the handlebars and if he could only push himself forward he’d be out of here but he couldn't get himself to move.

"Sorry."

"You were shocked, no worries."

"Still, I was quite brash..."

"True, you were." She laughed again and it was a silly sound. Dorky and her accent was thick in it, not an attractive sound at all but he subconsciously thought it was cute. Liam nodded and looked down "C’mon, man. I can fix you up and then you can go on your way."

There was that voice again and Liam couldn't help but blush. He wanted to say no. He left his house so he could go to the park, run a couple of laps and maybe kick a football around if he saw one. That’s it. He didn't plan on finding out that the pretty girl who lived down the way was a beautiful man and he definitely didn't plan on falling and embarrassing himself.

But he went in and he let her clean him up. He sat on her kitchen counter- “It’s fine, not like you fell on your arse.”- and she pulled up a chair in front of him, tending to his knee first. “I'm Veronica, by the way.” Liam must've had an incredulous look on his face because she quickly added. “Well… Zayn. It was Zayn, but I'm Veronica. So you should call me that.”

"I’m Liam." This made her laugh and he couldn't help but smile back because it was sweet.

"Just Liam, fam?" she joked and laughed in her hand, it made Liam smile and blush embarrassingly. "Yeah, you sound like a proper boy to me. No gimmicks here."

"Well, actually, sometimes I want to be Batman too, but I’m frightened by how my mum’ll take the sudden aspiration. So I guess you’re the braver one out of us two." Veronica laughed again and it sent chills down his spine. He loved her laugh, he loved her crooked smile and her pearly white teeth and bubblegum pink lips. Everything about her shined and brightened him up and it was all so foreign.

"Not really." She smiled a bit more solemnly now. "I think we’re both a bit scared what our mum’s will think." A blush fell over Liam's face and he could tell that she felt like she had said too much because she reached for a plaster before his knee was completely clean, flicking away pieces of gravel as she did so.

She started to move to his hand but Liam stopped her. “It’s fine. Thank you so much, mate. Sorry for the trouble.”

"It wasn’t any trouble, pretty." Veronica sounded and looked honest as she pushed her hair back and Liam began to notice her more masculine features. She had a strong jaw and high natural cheekbones. Her arms weren’t masculine but they weren’t the arms of the average female he’s seen. She had swimmers arms and as she stretched out more he could tell she had a body like one too but hips like a pin-up girl. Her breasts looked real enough but he could tell that she could take them off at the end of the day and become Zayn to the public again.

Liam jumped when she coughed lightly in her hand, cursing himself under his breath for subconsciously staring at her chest. “Not sure if it’s obvious or not, yeah… after how hard you were staring…. They -uhm” she laughed again, this time much more embarrassed, slipping out of her as she covered some of her face. “Well, they’re not, uhm, real or implants even.”

Liam reached out and placed a hand on Veronica’s shoulder. At first she tensed under the touch and he noted how broad her shoulders were but she quickly relaxed after and smiled at him. Liam's gesture was sweet, not demanding for her to stop or to continue, he truly just wanted to tell her that whatever she felt ashamed about was okay.

"Thanks, again, Veronica." The name felt foreign on his tongue, being the first time he said it, but it wasn’t bad to him. "I’ll be on my way now. I was actually headed to the park." Liam pushed himself off the counter, glancing at Veronica who was trying to hide her disappointment.

"So soon?" she tried to joke but it was half-hearted. "You’ve only been here for a minute, we’ve barely gotten to know each other." 

Liam smiled sympathetically. “Maybe next time… definitely next time.” he corrected, and he meant it. 

On his way out, he caught the eye of one of the women who were at his mother’s house this morning. She was watching him leave, looking shocked and offended and initially a part of him felt the same way about himself. Then he heard Veronica call at him from the door and he didn’t feel bad about it. He didn’t even care that her voice confirmed any suspicions the woman had earlier this morning.

The voice that called to him to enjoy himself at the park didn’t match the name Veronica. It didn’t match the oversized, powder blue cardigan that could fit her like a dress, or the tight black leggings forming around those curves. It didn’t match the Barbie pink lip gloss on those full lips or those long dark lashes. It didn’t match the long slender fingers, that waved at him and gripped the doorknob, or the thin dainty feet in the mismatched ballet flats.

But it especially didn’t match the labels that were placed on her or the names he had heard said about her. It didn’t deserve those awful looks or those awful people. He knew that without hardly knowing Veronica. 

He liked Veronica, everything about her made him feel new, different. She was intriguing to him and he planned on meeting her again, soon.


	2. Chapter 2

_A brunette woman is sat at her kitchen table, leaning forward in shock. “You really think it was the Payne’s son?” she whispered across the table at her cohort, surprised. “No…” She sucked at her teeth and shook her head, disbelieving. “It looked nothing like him…”_  

_"Well, you weren’t as close as I was! That is definitely him, no doubt in my mind."_

_"Do you think he’s a homosexual?" The brunette woman placed a hand over her chest, a worried expression on her face._

_"What type of homosexual would go after a man who dresses like he isn’t one? Honestly, the lad’s probably just confused. We should tell-"_

_"No, no, no. Don’t embarrass the poor woman it’s already bad enough as it is. Just wait until he gets over it… or at least until she catches him herself. Besides, maybe it wasn’t what it looked like."_

_"He was leaving her-… their house. What business does he have in there in the first place?"_

_The brunette woman shrugged her shoulders. “I honestly don’t want to know but for now, let’s keep this between you and I.”_

-

He didn’t stay at the park too long before he came back to the house he had been seen in front of. He could tell that she wasn’t expecting him to come back, she looked surprised when she opened the door. She was in heavy button up pyjamas, it was hiding all of her own assets but she was still so beautiful to him. Her hair was pinned up and didn’t have any make-up on at all. She was nervous at first about her appearance but she still gladly invited him back inside and they chatted with each other on her patio out back.

Veronica plopped down on a cushioned chaise lounge and he sat across from her in a large wicker chair. She reached for the bottle of wine under her seat and poured the both of them a glass, he figured she was already out here drinking before he came. He sipped some to be polite but mostly nursed the glass. It was too soon to bring up his bad kidney and he wouldn't want her to feel guilty about offering it to him in the first place. The questions were simple at first, mostly Liam asking her; "Where are you from?"; "How old are you?"; "What do you do for a living?".

He found out that she used to live in London before moving to Wolverhampton but didn’t stay for too long -"Too many people, not really something I wanted to do everyday."- but she came from Bradford and left because she felt she was too old to stay in her parents house. Liam guessed that was the answer for her age, as well.

When she answered what she did for a living, he couldn’t hold back his surprise but he was glad she didn’t get offended. "Office job, yeah. I’m a secretary for a collections agency. I hate it, need a better one." She didn’t say any more, her answer already vague, but she did mention that she hated how she had to get up a 6 every morning to get prepared and be there by 9. "Wha’bout you, babe? You do anything, am I going to get arrested for having you here and drinking? You don’t look too young."

Liam smiled at her, something he found himself doing a lot. Her accent and over all demeanour was probably why, but it helped that she was extremely beautiful. She seemed relaxed and a generally nice person and her voice made her seem all the more humble. "I’m still in school, actually just finished my 11th year. Also... I’m going to be 17 soon, so you’re not completely in trouble." She threw her head back and laughed out something he didn’t understand but he loved the way she looked and sounded when she said it. "I don’t work - I mean, it’s not a real job. It’s just a Summer program, cleaning up around the neighbourhood here…"

She grunted bitterly. "Well, you lot could definitely use it." Liam frowned slightly and she caught herself quickly. "Not you, love, just…" she paused to think before she finished her sentence. "Not everyone around here has been as lovely to me as you have."

Liam nodded and then reached out to rub her shoulder again. "Sorry, people suck, I know."

"It’s not your fault, you can’t control the people you live around." She paused and started again, changing the subject. "Lived here your whole life?"

"Pretty much. I've always lived in Wolverhampton, but not always in this neighbourhood. Don’t really see much reason to leave the place permanently."

"You’re young now, you’ll find a reason eventually. If you don’t… that’s fine too, I think. Don’t make too many major decisions when you’re this young." Liam opened his mouth to reply but then closed it again, she smirked at this and nudged her foot at him. "C’mon out with it, man, I know what you’re wondering."

"Uhm… H-… well." She laughed and waved her hand at him and he silently thanked her for saving him from the embarrassment.

"If I tell you, you won’t repeat it, yeah? It’s between you and me. I think I can trust you, Liam, I don’t just let anyone into my life nowadays. " Liam nodded, chewing on his lower lip to force back his smile when she told him that she trusted him. "Right… so basically, I’ve been like his my whole life. Not like this" she motioned to herself, implying her current appearance. "I was just always Veronica, deep down. Just too afraid to show it…I'm still afraid to show it. I was young, but I already knew who I wanted to be. Who I was." Liam nodded, not quite understanding, but letting her know that he was accepting.

They didn’t ask or answer much more after that. Just sat enjoying the silence and each other’s company. They were in their own world where they had nothing to hide from anyone or any expectations to live up to. He found himself constantly asking her if she was okay, when the silence became too in depth, but she always nodded her head and smiled across to him, a light blush covering the apple of her cheeks. She covered her shy, toothy smile when she looked over to him and saw him smiling back.

After a while, he told her he should probably head back home before his mother realized he was gone. He didn't know how to react when she got up at the same time he did and pulled him into a hug. The embrace was awkward at first, with her feeling inappropriate and regretting it in hindsight and him not expecting it at all, but he recovered fast and firmly wrapped his hands around her waist. Veronica bubbled up with laughter as he squeezed and half-heartedly complained that she was too small for him to grab her like that but he felt her melt into his embrace.

On his way home he was in a near catatonic state, his mind still set on Veronica. He didn’t expect it to be so soon, where she’d let him know even small details of her life so easily but he loved it all. Secretly, he especially loved how she felt in his arms and he thought about scenarios in his head where he hadn't had to leave.

He thought about how the situation would’ve been if he was older and knew her longer. He thought about if he had stayed longer and drank a little more, stood a little taller and talked more about himself while asking enough about her, would she have given him more than a hug? He wondered if she ever had any significant other before she moved to Wolverhampton and what they were like. It surrounded his thoughts for the entire night and he found himself not being able to sleep until he had properly relieved himself from them.

-

The next morning he woke early. The streets were misty and humid, perfect for a run and that would be the excuse he used if anyone asked where he was going on his way out. He wanted to see Veronica off on her way out to work. He knew by the time she got back, she’d be too tired to talk to him. He had two hours before she had to start work, so hopefully he had enough time to chat about something, anything.  
It wasn’t entirely false or unbelievable, so he wouldn’t feel guilty afterwards about lying to his mum. When he reached her house, Veronica’s car was still out front so he knew she had to still be there. He felt odd, walking up to her door. It wasn’t exactly something he was used to doing. He knocked and shuffled from left to right foot, wondering it he should just turn back. But he didn’t want her to think someone was playing on her door and depress her more so he stayed and felt himself sweating as he waited.

Finally, he heard a powerful voice from the other side. Nothing like the one he heard yesterday when he was sitting in her backyard over a bottle of wine. This voice was fed up, not ready to just accept things as they are any more and it worried him. "Who is it?"

"V-Veronica? It’s Liam… from last ni-"

"Liam! I’m sorry, pretty, didn’t mean to sound so rough with you. Come in, yeah? Want some tea? I don’t have any coffee…" She pushed him into the house as she blabbed on, fussing over the both of them. She wasn’t fully dressed for work. She was wearing a currently unbuttoned diamond white blouse revealing an even brighter white over-bust corset and a bright red pencil skirt that rode up her thighs. Liam was trying his hardest not too stare, especially at her chest, he knew she’d notice.

"Uhm… I don’t care for it. Coffee, I mean. So, yes, tea. Thanks." Liam watched as she walked into the kitchen her hips swaying while she flattened down her skirt.

"What’re you doing up so early, love? Don’t tell me you came to see me, either. I won’t believe you." She gave him a quick wink.

Liam smiled at her cheekily. "Just wanted to see you off in a good mood before you’re gone for the day."

She chuckled lightly from the kitchen "And when I’m gone? Are you going to stay here until I get back?" she teased.

"No, I’m going to go for a run actually. That’s why I’m wearing a tracksuit."

"Oh, I thought you were just a chav." Liam stuck his tongue out at her and she giggled. "Why are you running anyway, you’re already fit."

Liam looked down with a sheepish smile, paying close attention to the fabric patterns in her couch. "You look quite nice, as well."

"Didn’t say you looked nice, I said you were right fit." she winked at him and brought over his tea. "I was thinking about you last night, actually." This time Liam blushed and he couldn’t help it. Surely, she didn’t mean that they had been thinking about each other in the same way at the same time. The simple thought of her curling her fingers around whatever hidden treasures she had drove him up the wall and it was far too early for that. She laughed at his facial expression, catching what she had said. "I mean, about how I suddenly let you into my life. I was right pissed, yeah, emotional and whatnot. I was just talking and talking… It’s really, interesting. I mean I see you all the time and you’re so nice. I mean, a lot nicer than I’d expect someone to be to me."

She rubbed her hands together for a moment, contemplating what to say next before finally blurting out "Honestly, when you were shocked by… me… what did you think before? I mean, sometimes you’re with your mates and-"

"I didn’t think you were a… man. They’d say that but I didn’t think it was true."

"I’m not." She answered immediately, almost robotic sounding. Liam raised his eyebrows, confused and shocked again.

"I mean… I don’t…" She paused and fastened then unfastened the top button of her blouse continuously. She looked conflicted, sucking her teeth and then sighing in frustration. "Maybe for another time, if you’re around and I feel like it. I like you enough, Liam." She eyed him for a bit and then grinned. "You don’t look like you have an ulterior motive, either."

"If it helps any, I didn’t think you were a male because I’ve never seen a man like you. You’re very beautiful." She smiled at this, it was small and sweet and humble, his favourite side of her so far. It raised his confidence a bit, knowing that he was able to provoke a reaction like that from her. It went on like that, them going back and forth with cute comments and some teasing from Veronica, before it was time for her to go. At that point, he felt so good about himself that on their way out, he reached to hug her this time, his hands dropped low on her waist and he gave her a quick kiss on her temple. In that moment, everything was nice, she giggled into his chest and he swayed slightly with her. It was weird, he had only had two girlfriends in his life but only now did he feel like he had an actual connection. Before it was always just puppy love, where his friends would tell him to hold the girls hand or her friends would ask him to kiss her. Now, he wanted to do these things and he wanted everyone else to see him do it too.

After they left the house together, he could tell she felt the same. She had all her defences up but she didn’t look embarrassed in the least. Her hair was curled but pushed back, showing her cheekbones and she didn’t even try to walk like a proper lady, but she wore her skirt and heels like she was born in them. She wasn’t arrogant about or ashamed of who she was and it made him happy.

He walked to the drivers side with her and hung over the roof of the car as she dropped into her little blue Audi. She grinned up at him "You’re so big, you shadow over me. I’ll see you later, pretty, it’ll be late but let’s hope you show, yeah?" Liam nodded and she smiled again, closing the door. She waved at him as she pulled off. He sighed happily, something he’d seen his sisters do when they came home from a date and his mother would say they’re smitten. He never figured he’d be doing the same, over anyone.


	3. Chapter 3

_The visits continued for weeks. He’d spend any time with her that he could cram in with her busy morning schedule. They wouldn’t chat about much because she always had so much to do, but he had a guaranteed hug and if he was feeling confident a kiss as well. When she came home from work he’d spend the rest of the night with her until it was time for him to go. Sometimes it was because he realized it was past midnight, other times he started to notice that the alcohol was affecting her and he didn’t want her to feel embarrassed about it the next day._

_He noticed that the hugs became more and more intimate, especially at night when he helped her to her room after a drink too many. She would wrap her thin arms around him and nuzzle her head into the crook of his neck and he would hover over her until she let him go with a sad smile. He didn’t understand what it meant or what she expected him to do but it wracked his mind for days after. Admittedly the kisses he would give her got more and more intimate as well, traveling lower and lower from her temple and her smile grew softer each time. He’d admit to himself that he was nervous._

_No matter how long they’d talk about things he couldn’t say to anyone else, she made his palms sweat and his heart beat faster. He wanted to make a move on her, to kiss her the way couples kiss each other, not like a grandmother kisses you. But he hadn’t any experience, he didn’t know how she would react to an actual kiss. He didn’t even know if she would react and that frightened him. He knew that if he messed things up, he would lose her instantly. Yet, if he never tried he’d never know. He was going to start working soon, so he wouldn’t see her off in the mornings anymore, which he felt was the most appropriate time to try. That way Veronica wouldn’t think that he had bad intentions and also she would be sober and thinking rationally._

-

Veronica was quiet today, all his attempts to start a conversation were shut down with either her giving him a one word response or no response at all. She was still nursing the glass she had when he showed up at her house. It was awkward and he started to feel like he was going all the way back to step one. He finally gave up, sighing softly as he dropped his hands into his lap. She gave him a sad smile when she heard it and reached over to tap his thigh.

"Hey, how are you? I’m sorry, I’ve had a long day, man. Got a lot on my mind."

"Wanna share? Might make you feel better." She gave him another sad smile, something she’s been doing since she greeted him at the door, and shook her head solemnly.

"No… not really. Sorry, pretty. I… I don’t want to think about it, yeah. But how’ve you been, anyway. You said you’re starting work soon?"

"I’m fine." Liam gave her a hard once over and she sighed, closing her eyes and shaking her head, knowing she was responsible for the current mood. A part of him felt guilty for being so cruel to her.

"You’re killing me, babe… I told you about my family already didn’t I? " She whispered the question, twiddling her fingers in her lap.

"Three sisters, your Mum’s Irish and your Dad’s Pakistani." He whispered back to her with a grin and she glared at him half-heartedly, trying her best to force back her smile. "No, love, more than the basics." He wasn’t sure how much about her family she wanted him to know. He had asked her out of the blue one day, not thinking too hard on the subject and she became fidgety, stuttering out what little about the subject she told him. He didn’t ask again.

"Well, they’re visiting soon. Very soon…" A distant look descended over her face again and she finally started taking sips of her drink. "They don’t… My older sister… Ugh." She pinched the skin between her brow, aggravated with herself and took a deep breath before exhaling shakily. "I haven’t had a cigarette in almost an entire year." She chuckled lightly "I’m so scared Liam…"

Liam tried not to reach out to her, she hated being touched when she was vulnerable. She had explained it to him a while ago ‘Gotta let everyone know I’m nobody to fuck with. Nothing personal, love.’

"They don’t know about me, babe. Just my older sister. I told her about you-"

"Really?" Liam let out, sounding more excited than he planned to. A small smile pulled at her lips and she looked down blushing.

"Of course." She giggled "You do realize that there are very few people in my life that I love and trust? I have to let her know the newest addition."

He wanted to ask who the others were but he decided to resist. The fact that she said she loved and trusted him was enough, he wasn’t even sure if she realized exactly how much it had meant to him. “Thank you.” He said softly. “You’re close to your sister?”

"Honestly? If it wasn’t for her I wouldn’t be the Veronica I am today, there wouldn’t be a Veronica. I definitely wouldn’t be here in Wolverhampton, that’s for sure. Probably still stuck in shitty Bradford acting like a damned hooligan."

"I’ll have to thank her for that one day then." He grinned fondly at her and started talking again before she could respond. "So what’re you going to do?"

"What do you think I’m scared for?"

"You’re going to…" Liam stared at her a bit confused, she had her hair pulled back in a clip showing her cheekbones , her thin pyjamas revealed her broad shoulders and he couldn’t say for sure but he believed she may have become comfortable with removing her breasts around him as her chest was a lot flatter. Yet, no matter how much of Veronica she got rid of, he couldn’t see Zayn in her. He didn’t even recognize Veronica’s voice as Zayn’s. "Do… you-"

"I do it so I don’t get questioned when people I.D. me. I’m sure that twat always eyeing you when you leave my house has said something about seeing me like that before. That bigoted bitch is always watching my house." Liam blushed, he felt foolish for thinking that she didn’t notice the people who gave him judgmental and even betrayed looks for going to her house and for thinking that it would blow over eventually. "I don’t care about hiding from the rest of the world, by pretending to be… Zayn. I am who I am and I never expected much from them. But my Mum and Abba… I can’t do it anymore. I’ve been running this charade with them for longer than you can believe, Liam."

Veronica sighed and slunk down deeper into her seat, pushing away the loose hair in front of her face. She looked worn out and fed up. Without all of her makeup on he could tell she was aging too fast and far too soon. She was hurt and for a long time she’d had nobody to pick her up but herself.

"Veronica?" She lifted her head out of her hands and stared at Liam for a while before smiling at him softly.

"What’s up, babe?"

"I’m sure if your parents met the real you, it wouldn’t matter if you didn’t look how they remembered. The person I’ve been talking to these past few weeks is one if the most beautiful people I’ve ever come across, inside and out. And… You don’t deserve to feel the way you’ve been feeling. You deserve better than this. A lot better than this."

A pregnant silence hung in the room before Veronica let out a small laugh. She shook her head slowly before burying her face in her hands again. Liam sighed softly and sat in the available space on her chaise lounge, pulling her into his arms before her body shook with sobs. He didn’t understand what she was saying beneath her tears but he knew what she needed to hear and he whispered it to her over and over again as he rocked them both to sleep.

-

He didn’t know how long he held her or how long it was before her muffled sobs became hushed sniffles. When he woke he was lying in a room he didn’t immediately recognise covered in a duvet that was too heavy for the summer. After his eyes became more focused he noticed there was an alarm clock on the nightstand that read 11:50 A.M. and he realized he had missed Veronica this morning.

Then his eyes widened and realization hit him. He was still in Veronica’s house, in her room and in her bed, under her covers. His mind began racing, trying to gather any memory he had from last night. He didn’t remember doing anything with her besides holding her while she cried, he wouldn’t dare do anything with or to her while she was in that state. He knows he hadn’t accepted any drinks, with his health he couldn’t accept drinks without signing his own death warrant at the same time. Yet, here he was in her room with her lacy silk robe at the foot of the bed, makeup scattered on a big wooden dressing table equipped with a lovely large vanity mirror and the lingering smell of a fruity and sensual perfume on the pillow. He had definitely slept here and she had most likely slept here with him.

He must have fallen asleep and she guided him up here because there was definitely no way she had carried him. He was a bit embarrassed. She was supposed to fall asleep in his arms and he’d carry her upstairs, tuck her into bed and she’d give him that look she would give him, only this time there would not be a sad smile afterwards. He wouldn’t walk away and he wouldn’t leave her that night. He would’ve told her how much he liked her, taken any opportunity to kiss her and hope that she would reciprocate. He didn’t know why he had little doubt that she would reciprocate, but it was reassuring so he didn’t brush it off, not yet. He could only imagine what a child he had looked like to her, falling asleep before she did, he felt incompetent and he didn’t even know who he felt incompetent in comparison to.

He opened his phone and saw a slew of messages. A couple of his mates had asked him if he wanted to hang out with them. He scoffed at the irony of the situation but he didn’t turn them down, he needed something to do while Veronica was away during the day. He should be bothered that so many of his decisions lately revolved around Veronica, but he couldn’t be arsed. Another one, and shockingly only one instead of the barrage he usually got, was from his mother.

'oh okay love, but who? you worried me sick'

She was definitely responding to a message, one that wasn’t sent by Liam. He scrolled though his phone and saw tons of messages from her, before “he” responded.

'sorry mum i was with me mates. staying over his house. nanite love ya'

He smiled when he realized that the only person who could’ve sent that to her was Veronica.

He let himself into her bathroom to wash his face. There were a few hairless wig heads in there that honestly scared him and reminded him that Veronica wasn’t entirely a ‘she’. There was another that did have a wig on it, sitting idly on her linen shelf. Black like her current wig but a bold blonde streak stood out, it looked brand new so he imagined she didn’t wear it much. There were at least 10 different medications laid out at her bathroom sink, most of which looked unused. He began to feel uncomfortable with seeing so much of her while she wasn’t around and quickly left after washing his face. He couldn’t help but wonder about what she needed so many for. She looked young for the most part, older than him, but still young. Yet, she owned a house, moved from place to place and had a sister who was several years younger than her who, according to Veronica, decided a few years back to stay on at school and then go to Uni, so he really couldn’t say how old she was. He figured it’d be better to just wait until it came up rather than inquire.

He left the house soon, picking up the small sticky note Veronica had left for him. ‘Sleep well love? Sorry! We can speak later.’

He took her word for it, she had yet to let him down and he didn’t really expect her to either. His mum had a ton of questions when he got home, but luckily she wasn’t angry at all and he had prepared himself for any possible scenario on his way back. He mostly gave her answers that he knew she couldn’t follow up on, claiming that he had stayed over at a friends house that his mum had yet to meet and has parents that she didn’t know. He planned on introducing her to him, and telling him that he had stayed over at a babes house and had a shag with her, partly true. Eventually his mother let him off the hook and he ran up to his room, locking the door behind him, killing the lights and turning his stereo on. He had a borrowed mixtape CD from a friend, it had R&B Mix written in bright red sharpie on the front and was in a case from a punk rock band he never heard of. It seemed like the type of CD you see in infomercials late at night or way too early in the morning or at the checkout in the 99 pence store. Veronica’s scent was still on his hoodie and he was pitching a tent thinking about Veronica in the silky robe he saw.

A song by an artist he had never heard before started serenading him out of the speakers and he could couldn’t help but reach down to palm himself. He knew it was too early to do this but since he met her he’d found himself doing it a lot. It was complicated for him because it made him realize that he may not be as straight as he had thought. Veronica was all curves, dainty fingers and glossy smiles but at the same time she was a gruff Bradford accent with long swimmer’s arms and cheekbones like a male vogue model. But it all attracted him, he had rude thoughts about her but she has exactly what he knows is under there in all of them and he enjoys every part of it. A part of him felt like he should be ashamed of it but the thought of Veronica spreading her slender thighs for him and stroking her own cock made it all go away.

He was fully erect now, unzipping his pants to grab and pump himself. His hands were too large and calloused to properly imagine Veronica being the one to do this to him and he was sure she’d probably be much more skilled. He liked to think that she would know more about him and what he would like than he does himself, work her way around the head and his shaft until he had a proper orgasm and ease him through it. He would finish early but she wouldn’t make him feel embarrassed about it, she would tell him he’s the best she’s been with. Then she’d peel off her thin lingerie, slowly, giving him a show and accentuating her curves as she took more and more off and he would stare at her and get hard again. She’d straddle over him backwards, her bottom facing him and her hole on display. She’d wrap her lips around his length and he’d do the same for her, moaning loudly and not caring who would hear them in his perfect world.

If it were all real, he knew he probably wouldn’t have been able to do anything with her again before he had a proper resting period but this is the Liam he wanted to be for Veronica. Not the 17 year old boy with an awful kidney and a summer job. He pumped harder as he felt himself reaching his limit, Veronica always looked best in his mind when he got to this point, she’d be glistening with sweat and every part of her body that could would have a blush to it. The music had switched to a song he had heard before and he swore he could hear Veronica singing it to him. He was far too caught up in his feelings and his mother’s soft pitter patter seemed like bombs dropping. He kept going though, through the music and the moans he imagined for Veronica. He bit down on his hand until he drew blood when he came, his heart was ready to beat out of his chest. He closed his eyes and pulled his covers up, letting himself go to sleep until a few hours before Veronica came home.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I suck and don't understand why you guys like me or my story but okay bye sorry omg

Liam didn't show up downstairs until a few hours later. He hadn't been doing anything too extreme but he had continued imagining more very unlikely situations between himself and Veronica. He was young but he wasn't ignorant. It was different with Veronica he had never felt this way about anyone before.

He wasn't sure if his father was at home or working at the factory. He didn't even know what time is was. His mother may just be home though. She hasn't said anything but he was positive that she had lost her job a few months back. She never seemed to leave the house unless she was running errands and she had been cutting down on expenses. As Liam had guessed, she was seated in the living room, quietly watching the telly. He cleared his throat before entering the room, smiling when she turned in her seat.

"Oh! Liam, good evening. We were barely able to speak before you ran upstairs and went to bed. You seemed in a hurry..." She smiled cheerfully at him. If she had any suspicions, she was hiding them well and she wasn't good at that.

"Yeah, crazy night. Didn't get much sleep at all, the lads were wilder than usual." His mother gave him a disapproving look but Liam laughed and sat down next to her and kissed her cheek. She sighed contently and Liam groaned inwardly because he knew what was coming next. He knew she was getting ready to tell him how much she loved him and how much she wanted him to be safe but happy. Sometimes she'd bring up moments from his childhood or tell him points where she knew he was starting to turn into a little adult. Sometimes she'd end up crying or she got a bit misty and would have to blow her nose a few times. He loved his mum more than anything in the world but sometimes she made it hard to say anything.

"You know I don't like them but... I'm glad that you're making friends, Liam." Liam raised his eyebrows at her and smiled awkwardly.

"Thanks, mum."

"I'm glad that we moved over here." She continued. "It has nicer people, people I don't have to worry about bothering you. I was always so scared..."

"Mum, it's fine... really." Liam stopped her, he could already hear her voice changing into the pre-crying one. She shook her head and laughed softly. Liam tried to focus on the television but he was nervous now. He didn't like when she talked about the last place in Wolverhampton where they had lived. He hated it, he hated remembering it, he hated his life then. Whenever she brought it up around her friends he always grimaced. He was sure that the only reason he ever even had the friends he had now was because his mother had told his teachers about the bullying when he first came to the school. Everyone was so eerily nice to him.

After a few moments of silence his mother started talking to him again. "You're also outside a lot more than usual. I saw you sneaking out for a run at about 6 in the morning once..."

"Really...?" Liam lied, knowing she was referring to the one of many times he woke up extra early to see Veronica off to work. He never expected her to be up so early as well. He wasn't even sure he had an excuse to give her.

"Yes, I'm sure I didn't imagine it!" She laughed at him and then reached over to rub his head. "It's okay, Liam. I know you have a passion for these things." Liam sighed and smiled at his mother's ignorance. He didn't want her to know that he was really leaving early in the morning and coming back late at night because he was pining over a beautiful someone that he was sure that she would never approve of. That his new passion was figuring ways to make this someone happy in every possible way. He had no idea how he would even begin to tell her, so he didn't. It was too soon and neither he, his mother or Veronica were ready for it.

"Thanks, mum, it means a lot to me."

\--

Later, when Liam arrived at Veronica's house, he was immediately greeted by a large hug and several chaste kisses on his forehead. "You were right knackered last night, love. Fell asleep on me, talking crazy on the way up the stairs, too." Liam blushed nervously. He was right, she had taken him upstairs and more embarrassingly he had been sleep talking. Veronica must have caught this because she smiled fondly at him before pushing at his shoulder lightly and ushering him into the house. "Don't worry, it's okay. At least you can tell all of your mates you slept with a sexy older lady now. How many of them can say that, huh?"

"You sure you want me telling them all that?"

"Well I figure you won't be telling them who!" She rolled her eyes and Liam frowned. "Oh love, I'm joking. It's all jokes, don't pout." She said quickly before laughing at the both of them and Liam grinned because he really did love her laugh, especially when she didn't cover her mouth with her hand and he could see that she stuck the tip of her tongue between her teeth. The way her eyes would crinkle up when she found something really funny and her hands would move as if she didn't know what else to do with them. Yeah, he was definitely heavily infatuated with her, to the point where he noticed every single detail.

"Believe it or not, I was almost going to tell my mum about you today." Veronica paused for a moment before smiling humbly. Then she did another thing that he swears that he would pay to see over and over again if he could. Whenever he said something sweet to her or made her blush or just feel special she'd look down and chew on her lower lip and practice legerdemain with whatever jewellery she had in her hands as if it was the most important thing in the world. "I mean... I didn't but-"

"It's fine, Liam. I'm just glad you thought of me around your mum!" She laughed at him then hooked her arm through his, holding his bicep with her other hand as she led him to the back patio. She looked at him with a lovely smile, she must have gotten back from work recently because her makeup was still on. If she was weary, he couldn't tell, for the most part she looked happy, excited even. He gave her a quick once over before he began to ponder why. Maybe she had plans for them tonight. It was a bit daft, but he liked to think that the night before had been somewhat monumental for any potential relationship they may have. "It's nice to know I've even been thought about at all. You're lovely..."

"It's nothing, really. You're..." Liam paused to think of a word to describe her. A simple, every day one wouldn't have been convincing. Amazing he was sure he has used far too many times already. He grinned when he thought of it and she giggled at him. "Remarkable! It's impossible not to think of you, no matter who’s around me.”

"Oh, enough!" She pushed at him playfully. "You're killing me with that."

"Well, it's true. You are." Veronica looked down and away from him and Liam sighed before giving the arm she was using to hold Liam's a soft squeeze. Neither of them let go of each other until they had reached the patio. As usual, he sat himself in the wicker chair and she slid down into her chaise lounge. Almost immediately she reached behind herself for a bottle, Liam looked away while she poured it. "So did you talk to your parents at all?"

"Straight to business you!" She cocked an eyebrow then grinned at him. "I didn't... but I have been thinking about what you said last night. I've been thinking about it so much, you have no idea. I never told you much about my time in London, did I?"

"No, I don't think you did really. You never told me much about anything before you moved here."

She looked guilty for a moment and then shook it off. "You know I didn't like it much, yeah? It was probably the best place for... someone like me to live at the time. At least my area was and I could obviously pass a lot easier than most people like me could." She winked at him then and he tried not to appear to be affected by it. "Had a nice circle of good mates then but nobody permanent, really."

"No b- I mean-" Liam coughed into his hand, stopping before he made an even bigger fool of himself. "Sorry, that was rude."

Veronica gave him a look of bewilderment. "I don't even know what you were trying to say, love!" She laughed at him and Liam looked down flustered. She stopped when she caught it "Oh love..." Liam looked up at her, hardly able to give her proper eye contact. "Were you wanting to ask about the other people in my life who... weren't just mates?"

"It's up to you. If you want to tell me then go ahead, if not then-"

Veronica laughed again, getting the same reaction out of Liam. "I'm sorry, babe. I just-... I haven't been asked these questions in a long time and you're so cute with it all." Veronica smiled thoughtfully at him and Liam sighed before smiling back at her. "Don't be embarrassed, Liam. I don't want you to be uncomfortable around me."

"I'm not!" Liam reassured. "I mean- I don't want to be rude, is all."

"Well... I do want to tell you. There really weren't many... I guess you could say I only had one boyfriend in London... also a girl who thought we were a set before we even got far, it made things hard. Apparently she was the first heart I had ever broken... the last time we spoke she had phoned me only to say that I was a whore and the devil." Liam grimaced at that and shook his head, Veronica nodded before sinking further into the lounge, groaning. "It wasn't so much the insults that bothered me, it's not the first time I've been called a whore. I had assumed we were just good mates then but she claimed I led her on. It's hard to tell who will take flirting as such and who will take it to heart.”

"She was lovely at first but people always show their true colors when you let them get close." She paused and shook her head. "Which is actually hypocritical on my part, as my kind-of sort-of boyfriend didn't really know about Zayn until late on. Wasn't the first person who had ever broken my heart or the worst heartbreak I ever had. He was why I dropped my little voice act. I was so new to it all. I don't know why I even tried to pass. I thought that because I didn’t want to be… a guy that I’d just be a girl… I ended up not even liking that, honestly. It's so hard..."

Liam felt awkward, he had no idea what to say. "I'm sorry."

"It's my own damn fault, really. I should've told him first hand. I just... I didn't know who I wanted to be, Liam. I was so positive that the day I arrived at in London I could be the girl I thought I had always wanted to be. I wanted to be treated like that too, yeah? I didn't want someone to date me and think of me as a shemale, I didn't want to be male at all. Then all that happened and I found out that I didn't want to be either of them." She pulled her knees to her chest and buried her face in them. "You just don't understand, babe. If I could go back and do it different... try and find out who I was before I brought anyone else into the mix, I would."

A stiff silence hung between them, Veronica was shaking lightly and he felt bad for asking about it. He thought about her words for a moment and wondered if any of it applied to him. It was somewhat selfish but he was wondering if she was giving him subtle hints. When they first met she said she wasn’t a man She had yet to explain it to him and he was sure the later date she had promised was not today.

After a while, she lifted her head and wiped stray tears away, laughing. "He had threatened to beat me up and I was too scared to call the cops, didn't think they'd help me. So, I called one of my mates from Bradford to stay at my place until things settled down. That was probably the most awkward week of my life..."

"So... they know?"

Veronica smiled and nodded. "He kept asking me why and since when. He didn't even really believe me. I guess you could say things have worked out. He still doesn't get why and even if he did get it, he still wouldn't like it... " She had a distant look on her face before sighing miserably. "I don't think he'd want to hear about my new little boyfriend, either." Liam looked up shocked and she laughed and winked at him. "It's all banter, babe, I'm only joking." She smiled fondly at him and he relaxed in his seat.

"Is that all of them, then? In London, at least? What about Bradford?"

Veronica made a disgusted face and then rolled her eyes. "I had a few squeezes." She shrugged. "Can't even remember their names, honestly, it was insignificant and so long ago. I wasn't myself in Bradford, I was trying to become something I knew I wasn't and it just wouldn't have worked out. I was a pitiful, emotional wreck." She shook her finger at him him before reaching for her wine glass again. "Don't let people stop you from being who you want to be, Liam. I'm serious, yeah!?" Her drink sloshed around in her glass but she didn't seem phased by it.

Liam stared at her quietly and then looked down. "V-Veronica... say if I wanted to be..." Liam shook his head and Veronica raised an eyebrow at him, confused. "Oh bugger... Veronica, what if I wanted to be someone's-" Liam groaned loudly before slapping his head into his hand. "What if I wanted to be your boyfriend? Then... then what's... stopping me?" His hands were getting clammy and his heart pounded heavily. Veronica looked very shocked, her brown eyes as wide as saucers and her scarlet lips widened in a perfect 'O' shape. She looked as if she couldn’t process the words correctly and he was starting to get extremely embarrassed by her silence. "I'm sorry, that was stupid, fucking idiot." Liam slapped his forehead before quickly shuffling out of his seat. "Veronica, I'm sorry. I can't believe I- God, I'm so stupid. That was too soon, I'm sorry."

Veronica snapped out of her trance, still unspeaking but shaking her head with her hands in front of her. She was mumbling out something he couldn’t understand and Liam stood stock still waiting for her to say something, hoping that she would say anything so he would know what to do next. "Oh, love..." She paused again and shook her head before repeating what she was saying before, this time more coherently. She was shaking slightly as she pulled herself up and off of the lounge, hobbling slightly at she reached over to Liam and wrapped her arms around his neck, laying her head on his shoulder. Liam relaxed before rubbing soft circles into her back.

"I like you, Veronica. A lot. I have these massive feelings for you and it's been bugging me so much thinking about a way to tell you and when to tell you." Veronica didn't say anything, nodding slowly against his neck while she leaned further into him. "I won't be seeing you as much, my job is going to be starting soon. I can only see you at night for the next few months and you-" Liam stopped himself, he wasn't going to bring up her possible drinking problems, not yet. He took a deep breath and exhaled softly "Look at me, babe?" Veronica listened immediately, studied him with her deep chocolate eyes, a smile spreading across her lips.

Liam cupped her face in his hands and she grinned, he guessed she knew what was to come next and he knew she wasn’t as nervous about it as he was, she had at least some experience under her belt. Yet, he went in anyways, pressing his dry chapped lips against her soft pair. It was weird at first, he had a bit of a lead but she took over quickly, lapping at his lower lip after a few bites. He was shaking with excitement, admittedly, but he wasn't embarrassed this time. She moaned, giving him access to her mouth and he slipped his tongue inside, she let him take the dominant role as he got comfortable. Veronica pulled away for a second before pulling them both back onto her chaise lounge. He sat first and she straddled his lap before connected their lips again. He slid his hands down her back, stopping just below her waist.

This time when she pulled away he took a moment to notice the look she gave him, it was the same look she gave him when he brought her to her room at night. He began to taste and smell the alcohol on her breath, she smiled at him thoughtfully but she was clearly intoxicated "What's wrong, babe?" she whispered to him.

"It's nothing." he quickly lied. "I just... I don't think I was quite as ready for this as I thought I was..." She looked disappointed but nodded before sliding off of him. She teetered a bit when she stood and smirked bitterly at her actions. "Let me take you up to your room?" She nodded and he hooked an arm around her waist and lead the way. When they reached her room she pulled him into another kiss.

"Be back in the morning?" She demanded weakly, Liam furrowed his eyebrows sympathetically and nodded.

"I promise." They smiled at each other before he left the room, turning her lights off on his way out. He wasn't sure what tomorrow would bring or how she would react to it all. It worried him but another side of him said that he had a lot to look forward to.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait everyone. Also I'm going to start responding to your comments because I suck at that part.

_Veronica had just finished telling her sister about what had happened tonight, her response being a hearty laugh belting out the phone's receiver. She pushed the receiver away from her ear but laughed along. "Ya'allah! Had he really said that? How corny!" Her sister joked, Veronica blushed, embarrassed because she felt it was sweet and even more so the most genuine thing she'd heard from someone in a long time. This wasn’t the first time Veronica's sister has criticized Liam, it was the age difference, she was sure, that made her think Liam was just a horny little boy. Of course her sister only cared for her well being, but Liam made her happy so that should be enough._

 

_"I liked it..." She argued back half-heartedly._

 

_"It's childish... he just seems so young, Vivi."_

 

_"That's because he is young... but he's different. He's mature."_

 

_"He's a baby."_

 

_"I didn't call you so you could remind me how much older I am or how old I am at all! I've grown up a lot in the past few years and you don't seem to get that. I'm not setting myself up for anything, okay? I'm not even dating him. He's just someone who's nice to me. A friend." She lied. "I don't have many of those anymore. At least let me have this one." There was silence and then an exasperated sigh._

 

_"Well I guess I can't do much about it then!" She laughed and then sighed again. "Just be careful... and mindful. Don't set him up to knock him down-"_

 

_"I'm not!" Veronica groaned and then rolled her eyes, happy her sister couldn't see her. "Anything else?"_

 

_"I suppose not, good night. Sleep well, yeah? And be careful, I don't want anything bad to happen to you."_

 

_"I'm fine. You sleep well and don't worry about me. I'm grown now. Whenever I need your help, I'll just ask but I can handle this. I need to handle this on my own. Goodnight, love you." Her sister returned the sentiment and the line went dead. Veronica pulled her covers over her and laid down, her hands were still shaking. It had been a long time since she'd felt this way about someone and she was sure that no one has ever truly felt this way about her before._

 

-

-

 

 

Liam was especially happy that night because it rained, so Veronica suggested they chat in her lounge, she made cocoa instead of drinking tonight. Another reason, she looked bloody stunning. She had finally stopped wearing her wigs around him, her hair wasn't terribly short but it didn't go under her jaw. "I was never really a fan of short hair but I'm glad you like it at least."

 

She hadn't any makeup on but he was sure her look was what most makeup artists go far when they get to work on somebody. She didn't look sick or tired anymore, she was glowing and all of her features were sharp. She had glasses on tonight for whatever reason, he never knew she wore them, but it was doing things to him that he wouldn't dare admit. Her clothes were plain, long sleeved black shirt with heavy tartan print pajama bottoms but her figure made it look like she was modelling in them. Point blank, she was a knock out and she wasn't even trying. He felt underdressed.

 

Veronica sat the two mugs on the small coffee table in front of them. He tried not to make too much of her sitting down next to him instead of in the free seat across from him like she usually did. "I think I scared you the other day. I'm a mess, I was so wasted. I'm sorry, think I'm gonna stop drinking around you... So much."

 

Liam shook his head "It's not a problem, I'm a bit used to it." Veronica gave him a confused look. "I mean- I ... I don't mean I'm used to you being pissed I mean-" Veronica covered her mouth and laughed. "Ugh... I'm a mess innit?"

 

"We're perfect for each other." She laughed and sighed happily. "I've always wanted to do this. Cuddle up with someone..." Veronica looked at him pointedly. “while drinking cocoa on a rainy night. It’s stupid but really romantic. When you asked me that, I was so happy.”

 

Liam felt his stomach clench and he shifted oddly. It made her happy. That’s what she said. She didn’t feel scared or weirded out, she didn’t feel obligated to point out how young he was, she didn’t feel embarrassed for him. She was happy.

 

Veronica continued, despite his lack of response. “You seemed so sincere about it, I like sincerity. I like when people find out bad things about others and still like them even if it’ll cause problems for them. Even if people don’t like it. That’s real.”

 

“It was.” Liam stuttered out, he sounded desperate and childish but she didn’t seem to care at all. “The night before, I mean. All of it… I just- I’m happy too.” Veronica reached out and combed her fingers through his curly locks before placing her hand on the back of his head and pulling his lips to hers. It was awkward at first but Veronica had a way of making him to relax into everything. Liam rested his hands on her broad shoulders but Veronica moved them down to her waist.

 

“I’m not one of your little girlfriends, Liam! Don’t tell me you’ve never done this before either, the first time was far too sensual for me to believe that you don’t know how to snog a lady.”

 

“I’ve kissed before! This is a bit different… I didn’t even lead my first one.” Veronica gaped at him before pulling a pillow close to her chest.

 

“Tell me everything.” She whispered mischievously.

 

Liam groaned half-heartedly, he secretly enjoyed this playful side of her. “I’d rather continue where we had left off just now, to be honest!” Veronica shook her head and grinned at him, Liam made a groaned as he surrendered “My first kiss, I was 14. Don’t laugh but it was my mum’s idea to do all of this. She told me that I should take her out on a date to get something to eat and watch a movie. Gave me a tenner and nothing else!!” Veronica laughed loud and beautifully.

 

“Oh my days, what a mother!”

 

“I couldn't believe it honestly, what could I do with that? That’s just enough to get us both on the bus! But she was lovely, she really was. Said we could just stay at my house and watch a movie. I ordered some pizza and we went up to my room-”

 

“What’d you watch?” Veronica interrupted.

 

“Oh well I didn’t really think she’d care which movie I picked so I just went with Toy Story.” Veronica cocked an eyebrow at him and he blushed. “It’s one of my favorites, I used to love it as a kid. Still do.” Liam didn’t want to feel embarrassed about telling her this but he couldn’t help it and she seemed a bit embarrassed for him, which made things worse.

 

Veronica smiled at him fondly and for a moment he wondered if she was thinking the same thing he was.  “It’s a bit of a guilty pleasure… anyways- then she started… I don’t know, she just leaned closer into me- she was laying against my chest, yeah? She leaned in closer and… she just started rubbing my chest. I don’t know. It was odd but I didn’t really say much about it until she moved her hands up to my neck and…” Liam cleared his throat, which suddenly felt like a frog had built a home and had a family in there.

 

“She just… ran a finger down my throat. Then she was looking at me- just staring- that’s when I moved in and kissed her.” Veronica was quiet for a moment but then she smiled warmly before giving him another kiss and started talking again.  

 

“I’ve always wanted to go on a date with someone but to a fair, yeah? Sharing candy floss, them winning soft toys for me, kissing me on the big wheel…”

 

“Why haven’t you gone?”

 

“Nobody to do it with, really. After the people I told you about, I lost interest in dating. I was… doing my own thing. And I was a mess anyways. I need to get myself sorted out.It’s not great but it’s better.”

 

“So, now what, do you still want to go?” Veronica looked surprised at the question and really, Liam couldn't even believe he was brash enough to ask it, but she looked impressed so he went with it.

 

“Now... dunno.” She shrugged. “Just on my bucket list, I guess?”

 

“We have a fair in Wolverhampton every year, I could take you if you want.”

 

Veronica furrowed her brows and chuckled lightly. “Oh love… you’re such a darling little boy, you are…” Liam grimaced, having her call him a little boy hurt. He didn’t want that response at all. He wasn’t going to make any progress with her at this rate. She continued “Would you really want to be with me like that?”

 

“Like what?” Liam questioned and Veronica studied him for a moment and then put on a soft smile, most likely because she had realized he was honestly clueless about what she was talking about.

 

“We can’t avoid people’s attitudes in the privacy of my own damned house even.”

 

“The fair is farther out in Wolverhampton and it’s really big too. Wolverhampton’s big. I already know hardly anyone from around here will be going and even if they do we could just avoid them.” Veronica looked hurt for a moment and then confused again. “What? What’s wrong?”

 

“I- Nothing. Sounds sick. What’s the date?”

 

“Dunno, usually around my birthday?”

 

“Oooh! So that means I need to get you a gift too?”

 

“You don’t have to honestly, I’m happy just having you there.” Veronica groaned but couldn’t hide her smile. She shifted on the couch again, turning her back to him before laying her head down on his shoulder. It wasn’t long before she began to play with his curls.

 

“These are cute but you do make me feel like I’m a cougar with them! My excuse will always be that you’re legal.” Liam didn’t think too much of what she meant by legal and just pulled her closer. Sitting with her in silence was always his favorite because then he could just look at her in her calmest state. Veronica had told him she used to do life studies, so she didn’t find his staring creepy, she said it was observing.

  
He never figured he’d describe someone in this way but to him Veronica was truly perfect. Everything about her from top to bottom was perfect. She was beautiful, loving and insightful. She had her faults but she made up for them, always. He didn’t want to leave her at all that night. Veronica hugged him tighter than usual on his way out and he could tell she felt the same. He was falling in love with her, he knew it, but it didn’t scare him anymore.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a long time since I've updated, sorry everyone ♥!

It was nearing the start of August and the heat was intense. His mother had all the fans in the house running but it had barely helped make the heat any more bearable. Liam found a seat in their garden. He hadn’t bothered showering, knowing he’d only sweat terribly anyways. He was going to wait until later, not wanting to show up at Veronica’s house smelling bad.

 

Veronica wouldn’t be home for another few hours, she had told him not to wait up for her and to have fun. He had been avoiding his friends since the incident last month, knowing that more questions would arise. Since then, he had spent his time on their deck, when he wasn't with Veronica. He'd figured his mother wasn't expecting company, so he allowed himself to nap on there. It'd been another day of summer that he'd spent wasting time when he was not with Veronica.

 

It's not that he didn't have anything better to do. He could go running, which he loved to do and his parents never questioned him on it. Swimming was an option as well, there wasn't a beach for hours but at this point he was sure his parents would've been desperate to get him out of the house.

 

He wondered if Veronica would ever agree to go with him. She might not, but it hadn't stopped him from googling transsexual swimsuit models. He wanted to know if Veronica would ever be interested in these things, walking around on the sand in a bikini, just the two of them being themselves in a romantic setting. Too many people would recognize her if she did that around here and even though she didn't say it, he knew it scared her sometimes. That's why she hardly ever left her home as it was. He'd ask her later if she'd ever want to, leaving out the part of how badly he would like to see her in a bikini.

 

Liam was so deep in his thoughts that he hadn't heard his mother yelling his name so it shocked him when he found her standing over him in tears. "Liam!" He scrambled into a sitting position, hoping that his fantasies weren't obvious on his body. Liam panicked, why would she be crying and yelling at him? "Liam James Payne, explain yourself right now!"

 

Liam went rigid, gripping the sides of his chair tightly. "What- What do you mean?"

 

"Just get up! Get up and get inside now!" She stormed back into the house, Liam followed reluctantly. He knew whatever was to come would turn into something a lot worse if he didn’t listen to whatever she was saying.

 

“Mum, what’s wrong?” Liam mumbled tactfully. He didn’t want to agitate her anymore than he already had.

 

“Where have you been going all this time?!”

 

Liam grimaced and began to sweat nervously; she had hit right on the nail. He was getting more and more uncomfortable as realization dawned on him. He had figured that this would happen eventually. They had both known that there was no way they’d last the entire summer, sneaking around like they had been. He’d hoped to at least last until they could make it to the fair together, so he could take her on a proper date just like she had wanted. Now those plans were ruined.

 

He tried to think of an excuse, any reason besides the one she was thinking of, but what other reason could he give?

 

“What do you mean…” he stalled.

 

‘Liam- please, don’t act daft, this is not the time!”

 

“Mum… I don’t-”

 

“Have you been going to that woman's- that- ugh! I don’t even know what they are.” His mother slammed down into a kitchen chair, exasperated, and more tears began to pour down her face. “Oh God Liam. You were doing so well.”

 

“Mum, I’m still fine!” Liam yelled back, immediately wishing he hadn’t as it only made her cry harder and louder. He wished things didn’t have to be this way. His mother had never met Veronica but he knew she already wished that Veronica had never existed. She didn’t know how happy Veronica made him or how much more confident she made him feel and it didn’t even matter to her. Veronica had never done anything to anyone but be herself. ‘She’s really nice, mum.”

 

“Why would you even get involved with someone like that, Liam?! Everyone knows! Everyone! We’re going to have to switch schools for you _again_!”

 

“No… you don’t, mum, listen- please.” Liam pleaded hopelessly.

 

“What do you do over there?”

 

“What!?”

 

“What do you do over there?! They could have something!”

 

“She doesn’t have anything!” Liam yelled again, no longer caring about his tone. "We’ve never even done anything! We talk and that’s it.” He lied, only digging his hole deeper.

 

Apparently it worked. “Talk about what? You can talk to me, Liam. Or your father, or your friends or a counselor. _Anyone_. Why them, why would you choose to do that to yourself, Liam? They’re not like you, they can’t understand the problems you have.”

  
“No, I can’t. If this is how you’re gonna react then there is no way I can talk to you. Mum, just please let me have this. Please.” She didn’t answer, she just shook her head frantically and stormed off again. The only thing she said to him for the rest of the day was to stay inside. His father knew as well and he wouldn’t even look at him. The only thing on his mind that night was how he’d escape and break the news to Veronica.


	7. Chapter 7

It was 3 in the morning when Liam decided it would be safe enough to sneak out of the house. He didn't count on Veronica being up that late but he figured it was worth a try and that she wouldn't be too upset if he showed up. Leaving the house was the easiest part, his parents were practically dead when they slept and his sisters were indifferent to the situation.

His eldest sister had come into his room earlier asking why their father was so upset with him. He hadn't known what to say. How would one go about explaining this? He had just shrugged and she went about her way. He liked that about his sisters, they knew when and when not to push.

Getting to Veronica's house was a bit more difficult, what with the new bright street lights. Then there was the fact that almost everyone in his neighborhood had young children so there was no telling what hours of the day they'd be up at. He was tense and paranoid the entire way, but he made it.

Veronica had told him about the spare key she had hidden, so he didn't have to worry about waking up the entire neighborhood with his knocking.

Besides the low hum of the television, the house was completely quiet. She was laid out on her couch, she must have fallen asleep there. Liam's heart clenched then fell, after stepping closer and getting a proper view of her face.

Her eyes were puffy and swollen from crying, one of them was a dark mix of blue and purple because someone had struck her. Liam balled his hands into fists. Her lip was bruised as well as her forehead, it made him feel sick.

Liam laid a hand on her head and the other on her waist as he shook her lightly. "Veronica... Baby, wake up." He whispered softly. She stirred lightly and then tensed up, relaxing when she realized it was him. Liam frowned at her and her smile fell before she pulled herself up into a sitting position.

"You're so late, Liam" she started "Your parents came to visit instead. Your mum's really... sympathetic." Veronica smiled bitterly before a light chuckle slipped from her lips. Liam did neither, his stomach wrenched.

"Veronica, I'm so sorry. I swear to god when I get back home-"

"Don't do that, if you do that they’ll know you were here with me."

"I can't believe he did this to you."

"Hates a powerful force, Liam. It drives people to do awful things."

"But why would he do it to _you_." Liam felt his voice crack and his hands had begun to shake

Veronica smiled sadly at him. "What would drive him to actually look at you and decide-" Liam shook his head, his eyes were burning. "Veronica, I'm so-"

Veronica rubbed her thumb down his cheek and he couldn’t help but feel embarrassed for it. He had always been afraid that he would end up crying in front of Veronica but they were both in such vulnerable states. "You have to forgive them Liam. Its hard, I know, but you have to."

Liam nodded and she pulled him in for a hug, pressing her face into his abs before sitting up and offering him a seat.

Liam placed his elbows on his knees and shook his head, she was right. He knew she’s had made herself forgive many people in the past, without them knowing they’ve ever done anything wrong. She says that she needed to keep them in her life until she’s ready to come out to them and hope they’ll change for her. She had hope, but he knew better for his own case. “See… they don’t understand. I told her how we talk, how comfortable I feel talking to you. She didn’t want to listen, she hardly even regarded you as a person.” Veronica deflated and he felt awful for saying that to her. It’s been said about her all her life, she knows and he knows but she was content with not thinking about it and he just shoved it in her face Liam continued, giving some more thought to his next words. “Remember when I was talking about my last neighbourhood?

“Vaguely…” she started and then shook her head, humming a soft “No.”

Liam smiled fondly at her and continued. “I was bullied before coming here.”

Veronica’s entire face dropped, her sympathetic eyes wide. “Oh… Oh babe, why didn’t you ever tell me?!” She snuggled her face into the crook of his neck, pulling him tight. Liam tensed in her embrace, it reminded him of his mother when it first happened and she found bruises on his body. He had lied that day about it but she knew what was happening. He felt his chest getting heavy.

“Sorry, it wasn’t the best experience so I don’t really talk about it much.” Veronica pulled away giving him a soft nod, her sad expression still prevalent. “Sometimes they’d decide to chase me home. I wasn’t really the most… athletic kid, so I usually got caught and beaten up.” Liam paused to look at Veronica, she had her hands covering her mouth and her eyes were already watery. He tried to laugh it off but a pathetic sound came out. He really hated talking about this.

“Liam...” she moaned pitifully, her eyes fluttered a bit before she buried her face into his shoulder again.

“Yeah, it was terrible. One day, I almost got away from them but they caught me a couple houses down from my own. My mum came out and ended the little scuffle. She called the school and the parents… everyone. I stayed away from school about a week and when I came back everyone hated me. That’s when my dad decided I get home schooled and then after a year or two I decided I wanted to go back to a different public school.

Veronica pulled away again and he noticed his jacket and her cheeks were stained wet “I don’t even know what to say. That’s so awful, kids are bleeding mean but it’s not fair. I understand… she doesn’t want that all to happen again but why break us up from each other, y’know? Why should we be persecuted because everyone around us are damned twats?”

“I’m going to try and talk to her again. She’ll understand eventually, I’m sure of it. It’ll take some time but she will and then things will go back to normal.”

“I have no idea what we’re going to do until then. I don’t want you getting over me.” Veronica frowned playfully.

“I would never.” Liam reassured seriously “We could text each other but they’re watching me like a hawk now. They might try and take it away from me…” Veronica didn’t bother trying to hide her disgust at this. He couldn’t blame her, the idea of them going to those lengths to stop him from talking to Veronica seemed ridiculous but there was no telling what they’d do. “We could use my house phone if it came to that but my parents would be suspicious as to why I’m using the house phone every night.”

Veronica scratched her head thoughtfully. “We could use instant messaging or video chat.”

“Like… skyping? You have that?”

“No, but I have…FaceTime?” Veronica mumbled in confusion, and Liam smiled fondly up at her. “That’s how I keep in touch with my sisters, I don’t show many people my face unless I need to. At least not anyone who hasn’t already seen it.”

Liam laughed fondly "My parents can hardly afford my prepaid phone, there’s no way they’d be able to get me a smartphone. Nonetheless an iPhone.” Liam didn’t comment on the rest of what she had said. He didn’t want her to know that it made him happy. “You would have to sign up for skype, we can video chat like that.”

“I guess that isn’t too hard, until things get better for us.” Liam’s mind went into a frenzy thinking about how much ‘us’ implied. Veronica cleared her throat, shakily. “Then we-... you and I... can talk to each other in person.” Veronica paused for a second time then looked Liam over. “Were your parents asleep when you left? Did you plan this out?”

“I’ve been up for hours thinking about this.” He confessed.

“And nobody saw you on your way here, right? Everyone’s asleep, yeah? So nobody really knows you’re here?”

Liam furrowed his eyebrows. “I guess not. Why?”

Veronica blushed and Liam could swear she looked like a schoolgirl. Like someone from year 9 who wanted to slip a note into his locker. She shrugged and shook her head at her lap, debating with herself whether to continue or not. The gesture reminded him of when they had met for the first time in her front of her house. “What am I doing?” Veronica shook her head and then sighed. “Let’s just… we might as well… who knows the next time we’ll be able to meet in person...” Liam felt a blush move up his face, a small shudder going through him.

He’d probably thought about this moment a million times already. He’d seduce Veronica, she’d conveniently be in her lingerie, something more sexy than what she was wearing. In a perfect world she’d fall for him instantly, he wouldn’t have to try hard to get her. He’d carry her into her room and make love to her through the night. Now, here he was in front of Veronica and she was ready but he didn’t know how to make himself ready. He didn’t know how to lead like he did in his fantasies.

“That’s so sudden. I know, but…” Veronica cupped her face in her hands and laughed miserably. “Fuck, I’m an idiot-”

“No! I just…” Liam paused and Veronica nodded, letting him know there was no need to say any more. She scooted off the couch so they were kneeling face to face before pressing her lips against his, purposely letting him dominate the kiss. Liam lifted shaky hands to her shoulders, inching the robe off until it trickled down to a small pool at her waist. Veronica smiled into the kiss and moaned to egg him on. The sound alone was enough to make him shudder and Liam began to wonder exactly what she saw in him. Why someone like Veronica would be interested in sleeping with an awkward teenage boy who had no idea what he wanted and liked anymore.

Liam hands still shook at her shoulders and she took the opportunity to grab them and set them on her waist, shimmying out of her robe. "C'mon Liam, take me already." She whispered breathlessly. Liam's heart began to race, there was no way that Veronica couldn't feel it as tightly pressed against him as she was. Liam pulled away slowly, looking down and away from her.

"Sorry..."

Veronica looked defeated but determined, reaching her hand towards the waistband of his joggers. Liam gasped and his eyes went wide "Let me just take the lead, for now? I'll make it up to you some other time... When you're ready." Veronica licked her lips and Liam gripped the rug behind him . "Move back." She whispered softly while pushing on his chest a bit. Liam obeyed immediately, scooting backwards, his trainers squeaking against her floor. "Now lean back a little babe, relax. Let Vivi take care of you." She crawled slowly and seductively over to him, her hips swaying, the lacey white underwear she was wearing barely leaving anything to the imagination. She stopped just above his legs, straddling them before dipping down and mouthing over his erection through his sweats. Liam threw his head back and moaned loudly.

Veronica moaned with him before asking in a whisper. "Do you like it like this?" Liam didn't know how to answer that, he wasn't sure if he could. She didn't wait before reaching into his pants and gripping his full arousal. Her slim fingers wrapped around his precum slick shaft, thumbing the head agonizingly slowly. Liam sucked in a breath, looking up at her ceiling in a vain attempt to relax. He couldn't think straight with her touching him like that, he could barely keep his hands from flipping her over and taking charge again.

Veronica grinned at him when she noticed this, tilting her head a bit before she released him. Liam let a wanton whine escape from him until he saw her fingers around her lacey underwear.

Liam's face flushed over when she let her bra drop onto him. She had a flat chest but  it looked amazing to him. She began to slowly pull her panties down over her hips. She'd stopped right before uncovering herself completely. Veronica bit her lip, staring directly at him.

Liam shifted anxiously, waiting for her to continue. She grinned, sucking in her lower lip before pulling her panties off completely. Liam stared shamelessly, he didn't know what he was expecting. She wasn't small at all, she was about as big as he was and just as hard. Veronica ran a slender finger down her length before lowering herself down again, grinding down onto his legs. His face scrunched up at the contact, Veronica did the same, shaking with each stroke.

"Shit..." She hissed as she pulled away from his clothed erection. "It's been a long time since I've done this." Veronica moaned lifting her hips up and stroking herself. Liam felt like he would pass out any second; he couldn't take his eyes off of her, hot and sweaty with her face and cock as flushed as it was.

Veronica held herself up on one arm, continuing her ministrations with the other. She pursed her lips together and whimpered, speedily pumping her cock above him.

Liam moved his hands to his joggers taking them off Veronica to slide a hand under his sweats and pull out his own cock. Veronica shut her eyes in bliss and lowered her lips to the head before taking him in.

Liam groaned and reached for the back of her head, pushing her lower. She winced at first gagging around his girth as she tried to deepthroat him. Liam let out a deep guttural moan, his cock twitching inside of her mouth. It was warm and wet, her plump red lips looking perfect around his shaft. Finally adjusting, she slid her tongue along him then licked sloppily. Liam leaned back further and shut his eyes, his lip quivered as he rested his head against her coffee table. He was close, as much as he hated to admit it, writhing and jerking up under her, tightening his grip on her hair.

Veronica coughed again, gagging more this time and that much pressure and force was enough for him to release. Pleasure rolled over him like a harsh wave and he shuddered intensely.

She lifted up from him slowly, her full lips still tight around him, not dropping the sexy act she had put on. A small dribble of spit and cum coated her chin, the younger of the two looking wide eyed at her.

Veronica quietly leaned over him, her chest only inches away from his face and spat into her wine glass.  Liam didn't say anything, too embarrassed. He expected her to say "That was quick" or mention that she hadn't even been close to finishing but she just sat in his lap and gave him a kiss on his forehead.

"You were so good, baby." She murmured, stroking his cheek and then giving him chaste kisses after. "You're alright, yeah?" Liam's heart was still racing but he managed a nod.

"You didn't... Sorry."

Veronica shrugged and rested her head on his shoulder Liam stayed quiet, his thoughts were still muddled. His father would be waking up for work soon and he'd probably check if he was still in the house. Nearly the entire neighborhood would be leaving to work soon as well. Yet, he didn't want to leave now. He couldn’t bring himself to move his legs, to tell her he’ll call her when he gets home and give her all the details. He wasn’t looking forward to being forced to resort to video calls to hear her voice. He looked to Veronica, she was completely out of her clothes and dozing off quickly.

"How're you feeling?" He started, shaking her again as much as he hated having to.

“A bit old, to be completely honest but I’m still here.” She laughed.

"I have to go soon, my dad-"

"I know." Veronica said flatly before pulling herself up and off of him, reaching for her robe. Veronica stopped to sigh when she noticed the pained expression on his face. "It's okay, just call me? Zayn Malik, I’m in the phone book.  As soon as you get home, call me." Liam nodded and stood up with her.

“I will, I promise…I’m really hoping my mum won’t think of going through the phone bills just to bust me. I don’t want anything like tonight happening again.”

“Don’t worry, I called my old mate to come and save my arse again, he’s right pissed. Well… unless you’re talking about the sex, which I hope you would want to happen again.” She winked at him and laughed. "Just think of what your parents will say when they find out you've snuck out before the light of day to get head from a tranny whore." Veronica smirked.

"I'll make sure to tell them. Hopefully, they’ll kick me out and I can stay with you.”

“That sounds nice but then we’d have to worry about what _my_ parents would think.”

Liam frowned “How’s that been going by the way? They haven’t came to visit yet.” Veronica sighed, relaxing into the couch and waving her hand. Liam took that to mean he didn’t want to talk about the subject, he didn’t blame her. He was already tired from dealing with his own situation. “Alright, I’ll call you when I get home and the old man’s gone. You’re not going to work today are you?”

“With this face? Never. I can’t have everyone in the office thinking I’m some sort of thug or worse, my little boyfriend’s beating me. Also I’m emotionally exhausted, I don’t want to leave my house for anyone.” Veronica was lying down now, her robe barely concealing what it was supposed to. She looked a lot more serene than when he walked in, so he didn’t feel as bad about how tonight ended. Veronica wiped a wisp of hair from her face before looking back up at him. “Did you want a kiss goodbye or summat? I still have your cum on my lips, y’know?”

Liam blushed at the rude remark and shook his head. “No… I just wanted to say that I love you before I left.” Veronica furrowed her eyebrows, barely able to contain the smile coming across her face.

"Oh Liam, you're going to make me cry. I love you too, I love you so much."

**

Liam was greeted with silence when he walked into his house, his parents were still asleep in their bed and his sisters were as well. He was surprised to find that he’d been at Veronicas house for less than an hour, it felt like ages. Exhaustion washed over him the moment he laid his head on his pillow, only now realizing that he’d been up for the entire night.

His parents would find an excuse as to why he would sleep through most of the day tomorrow, he was sure. They were good at finding reasons as to why he’d act differently than what they’d expect. They hadn’t been expecting this, even he wouldn’t have been able to guess that he’d get caught up in a situation like this. He wasn’t going to let it get to him though, he couldn’t let his parents take away someone that made him this happy. It’d take time and a lot of explaining but sooner or later they’d have to understand that she made him feel important and that this wasn’t bad for him at all.

 


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *sweats nervously* so uh- how's everyone been! 
> 
> *unbeta'd*

_Veronica didn’t make any move to get out of bed the first time she woke up. Her plans included staying in bed for most of the day, only getting up to drink a cuppa or a pint. However, with how numb her body was and how drained she felt, she had to get up. Regrettably, of course. By the time she hit the bathroom, the numb feeling was replaced with a dull throbbing pain from head to toe. She flinched from the shock of it, wincing a bit before taking a seat on the tub side and reaching for her epsom salts.“Fuck…” she groaned and started the bath water. The child in her, the same one who’d desperately try and find away to look like her older sister, decided that a bubble bath was necessary._

_From the silence in the house, she guessed nobody had showed up yet, which is good and bad. Good because she still reeks of teenage boy, bad because she’s gotten used to people vandalising her property after finding out about Zayn. There really was no telling when it had come to this, it seemed to be an innate feature of people like her._

_The tub was full and she slipped out of her robe, letting the water envelope every sore inch of her small body as she sunk deeper and deeper into the water. Her mind was surrounded by thoughts of Liam the moment she shut her eyes. She felt at peace with the world when they were together. The uncertainty of if they'll ever be together again was nerve wracking. Something had to give._

__

__

The sun was out, bright and beaming when Liam woke the that afternoon. He kept himself occupied by flipping his mother’s stress ball in his hand over and over again. So far, nothing too extreme has happened at home. Neither of them said anything to him all day, but at the same time he hasn’t left his room other than to shower. His sister, since his mother opened his door every time she came past, only said “Good afternoon” sarcastically before continuing on her way. 

He’s been rehearsing every possible scenario to come in his head. He needed to be prepared when the time came and his mother wanted to actually talk about this. He couldn’t mess up, he only had one chance with his mother and it had to be perfect. But he was patient, he was willing to wait for as long as possible for Veronica.

Liam had taken the opportunity to ring Veronica when his mother told no one in particular that she was leaving to fetch some groceries. He estimated she’d be gone for about half of to a full hour, leaving him enough time to catch up with her before they’d stop talking again for however long he was unable to. He’d look up Veronica’s number before he went back to sleep, it wasn’t difficult to find with him knowing her birth name but he did want to ask why she was still under it.

He surveyed the house quickly before running back upstairs, he couldn’t hold in his excitement punching the keys. He felt lively again after being treated like scum for the past few hours. He unconsciously rapped his fingers on his headboard rhythmically waiting for her to answer the phone before it went to voicemail. He didn’t worry too much about it then.

Most likely she was still sore from the night before, emotionally and physically drained. He would’ve waited a bit longer before calling again but he didn’t have such options with the short time schedule. The second and third time it went to voicemail were nothing less than unsettling to him. He frowned at the phone, waiting a beat then considering all the possibilities as to why she wouldn’t have answered. She was surely exhausted so she could be sleeping or just too tired to be bothered with, which was fine but he didn’t know when he’d get this opportunity again.

The fourth time he was damn near ready to go over there himself. He didn’t know anybody else who knew about their relationship and he didn’t put it beneath his neighbors to follow his fathers lead despite the situation having nothing to do with them. She’d told him that a friend was coming over to make sure she was alright, they should be there by now. He should be there by now, he could give the phone to her, update Liam on how she’s doing. Unless, of course he didn’t want to answer, which was understandable considering recent events but Veronica would have a say in that. At least, he hoped.

She could also be worried that it’s his parents calling and not him but surely she knows better as they have no idea what he number is and Veronica isn’t as fearful as she had used to be. Liam furrowed his eyebrows, the grip on his home phone tightening. Maybe she was done with him. Last night could’ve been the last straw. He treated her like a dirty little secret up until now and that’s because everything had come to light with her getting the worst of it. 

He was deciding how he could get to her house unnoticed when, the phone had rung. the caller ID reading Zayn Malik.

Liam’s stomach flipped before he smashed his thumb on the answer key. “Hello.” he said, as calmly as he could manage.

“Yeah, is this Liam?” the younger paused and coughed awkwardly, not expecting this at all despite his anticipation.

“Yes-” he mumbled into the receiver firmly before being quickly disregarded.

“Oi! Zayn, it’s the kid.” Liam frowned at him calling her that and he heard Veronica argue with the man in the background over it too. She didn’t sound tired and that was reassuring for the most part. More bickering and the a door clicked shut, there were a few footsteps and from the creaking he knew it had to be her guest room, the dustiest, forever vacant room in her house. His heart jumped when he heard a soft sigh. "Well, in relieved to know that I wasn't a hit and quit."

Liam, despite her not being able to see it, smiled fondly. "I would never dream of doing that. I'd get pissed off that you were hurt and have I beat someone up."

"Love, you do realize that someone is you, yeah?" Veronica giggled.

"So be it."

"... I miss you so damn much. It's weird not having someone to hang out with before I go to work... Even though I didn't go today but still."

"I know, I'm sorry... It's just-... I've been on a really tight leash lately."

Veronica groaned audibly. "You're- what? A month from 17, innit?! You do realize that legally you don't have to stay there right? When I was your age I was already on my own and my parent couldn't do shit all about it. Not that they were complainin’ but-"

"I can't just up and leave, Veronica! Especially not with my Mum like this, she's really... Sensitive. She will literally worry herself sick about this."

"You're literally down the street!"

"You know what I mean! And it doesn't matter! It's not you, babe, but I can't just casually visit them if I'm staying here. They'll probably think of me as a traitor or something." Veronica gave a long exasperated sigh and Liam frowned miserably. "I would if I could, you know that. Please don't make me choose, it's not that simple."

"I won't... But just think about it. It's not a bad idea at all and you’re already 16 for goodness sake"

"I will, I promise. If it comes to that then I'll make that choice. Until then..."

"Yeah. Just know it's only as hard as you make it." Veronica mumbled and Liam shook his his head half-heartedly at her persistence.

"We have our entire lives ahead of us, be patient."

"No, you have your entire life ahead of you, I'm an old maid."

"You hardly look a day over-" Liam paused. A car was pulling into his driveway and from the loud engine he could tell it was his parents car. He cursed under his breath, he still had so much to say.

"Liam?" Veronica whisperer into the phone, she must've known what was happening. 

"Mum's home... I gotta go."

"No way! It's only been like 10 minutes at most!"

"I spend most of the time waiting for you to answer your phone! I'll call you as soon as I can get the chance, love, bye." Liam didn't wait for her response before rushing down the stairs and placing the phone back on the receiver, deleting the phone call history just in time for his mother to come through the door. She didn't so much as glance at him before preceding into the kitchen.

 

Liam swallows a lump in his throat grabbed the few remaining bags and sat them on the kitchen floor. His mother was already starting to put groceries away, hurriedly, as if she had something to do after this. Liam stood in the kitchen awkwardly, debating with himself whether or not he should say something, try and come to an ultimatum with her on this. He knew Veronica, they didn't. They have no viable reason why they can't be together, from his point of view and he knew his mother wasn't a bigot. She wasn't like that.

Liam shuffled forward and almost as if she knew what was going to happen, his mother sighed pitifully, dropping her head as she put down a few cans, wiping her eyes. "Liam, don't." She demanded as she could manage but there was a hint of begging in it.

A part of Liam wanted to give up, to just leave and stay with Veronica. She was right, after all, he didn't have to listen to them. He didn't have to stay in this house and listen to their rules. He didn't have to keep his bedroom door open and deal with a silent treatment, he didn't have to deal with any of this. But there was another side of him, a more domestic side that he only ever felt with Veronica, that wanted his mother to love Veronica. The side of him that pictures Veronica sitting awkwardly in their kitchen and giggling whenever his mother would tell embarrassing stories about him. A side that wanted his mother to call Veronica "daughter" like she did with the girl who felt him up before pushing herself onto him. He wanted them to get along, to talk with each other and he knows they'd both love the good company. He wants his mother to tell him to bring Veronica over for dinner or how things are going with her and for her to smile when he says things are great per usual.

But he didn't know what to say, he couldn't find the words to say all that over to her so said all he could. "Mum, she's just... She's really really nice, mum."

"It doesn't matter, Liam! Are you a masochist? Do you want to do that all over again? Do you want to have to move across towns again?"

"I don't care what everyone thinks about it..." Liam said quietly. "I don't care if everyone hates me over it, it won't be like before because I'm not the scared, chubby kid I was in grade school. It's been ages, mum."

"You don't know what these people are capable of! Liam, I know you... care for them… a lot." His mother cringed at this. "But Liam... I just want you to be safe and happy and being with that- people like that get murdered!"

"I know.." He groaned, she must’ve thought of every reason in the book to disagree with him before hand and he knows she won’t take his supposed happiness as a pro to this situation. “But I’d rather risk that than sit around regretting that I never took this chance because of something that may very well never happen. Besides, if I was worried about that, I would never had stuck around in the first place.”

“Liam…” Finally, she turned around to look at him, upset but defeated.

“You’d like her, you really would.” Liam continued. “And… if you apologized for last night, I think she might be willing to forgive you, she’s not a hateful person.” Liam refocused his attention to the bags in his hand.

“When did you-”

“I wasn’t just going to go to bed without making sure she was okay. You said that everyone knew, I needed to know, then I found out that you guys attacked her.”

“I didn’t do anything! I didn’t even know that would’ve happened, it just happened that way, and I stopped it as soon as I could! You shouldn’t have been there in this first place! Were you even planning on being reasonable at all? Why can’t you just listen to us, things would be fine if you just listened to us. Do you see how you’re acting? Do you see what those kind of people do to you?”

“Would you stop saying that. There’s no such thing as ‘those kind of people’ she isn’t a kind of person for fuck’s sake! Stop talking about her like she’s some alien, she’s a human being just like you and me! Difference is she actually has a damned sense of humanity!” Liam spat out the last few words with more bite than he intended and didn’t regret it at all. His heart was racing with a mix of fear and excitement, quietly heaving and putting too much energy into balling his fists. He shouldn’t have said that but he’s glad he did. He was way too out of line but he needed to take that step to assert himself. He wasn’t the rebellious type in the least bit but he’s enjoying the rush of it.

His mother stood across from him, a look of shock covering her face and some other emotion he couldn’t quite pinpoint. Disappointment? Embarrassment? No, this was more a look of abhorrence. She looked disgusted by him, like she left and came back to find this new person. Liam felt somewhat ill, his stomach turned slightly and he was starting to regret everything again. He’s now starting to realize what little control over his emotions he had right now, his throat was starting to feel tight. He couldn’t cry, not now, not after he put his best foot forward.

It’s almost been 3 months since he met Veronica and it only took 2 short days for his fairy tale summer to fall to bits. His mother was glaring at him and for the first time since he’s recognized the action as crying, not a single tear dropped from her eyes. “Go to your room, Liam. Now!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> shits about to go down
> 
> so uh yeah guys sorry I've been gone for like four months now. I was in the military and then I got kicked out for chronic shin splints and now I'm back and I've been putting off actually finishing this but I need to actually finish something I started for once in my life like you guys have no idea how important this story is to me but anyways. 
> 
> Did you guys think this was too cheesy or dramatic or do you think that Liam is a bit in over his head like I don't want it to be like corny or whatever! Anyways yes please leave feedback. Kissles to my biffles!


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm a trashhole and Veronica is a hot mom.  
> Fingers crossed I get into the college I want, my loves!  
> This story is over a year old!

To say that Liam was scared of what his mother’s next move would be after last night’s outburst was an understatement. He was absolutely horrified. His mother never looked at him like that before. She looked less disgusted when he threw up in her lap when he was eight and less angry when he accidently set their microwave on fire after pressing an extra zero. He wasn’t sure if he was overreacting to think his mother hated him at this point. It was as if she was looking at someone she didn’t know at all.  There were no words he could find to describe how badly the feeling hurt when he walked up the stairs to his bedroom. He felt as if her eyes were tearing into him, flaying his back to shreds.

His sisters came home an hour later, jubilant as ever. He shut his door slowly and quietly when he heard their laughter radiating through the house. He couldn’t think of anything to say to them where he could actually trust his voice. Several hours later his father came through the door, grim and somber, a complete opposite of Ruth and Nicola. Now he played the waiting game. He expected them to come through in a blaze, stripping the walls of all the plugs, posters, maybe even the door, taking his things, and throwing them out the window. He braced himself for whatever screaming and scolding was to come but nothing happened. His door stayed close and everyone cycled in and out of the house for the next few days like he wasn’t there at all.

His parents were blatantly ignoring him now. His father had already been ignoring him like this so there was no telling if he knew about Liam's outburst with his mother. His sisters acted as they normally did, Ruth a bit more curious, checking up on him from time to time. As far as he knew, they didn’t think anything was wrong and from how things have been going he wanted it to stay that way.

Days passed and it rode into a full week before he was given a chance to speak to Veronica again, in the dead of the night. They talked their way around the current issue, not wanting to waste anymore of what little time they had. He told her about how he wound up yelling at his mother but not how she was, for lack of a better word, blaming Veronica for Liam’s sexuality. They both knew that something bad was going to happen, but neither knew what it would be and they definitely didn’t want to talk about it. Veronica successfully dodged a question about her family by how silly it was for them to talk about her family in the short time they'd have together when they could be talking about something more exciting. By the way her voice came out in soft moans, he figured that the conversation would end up switching into another that ended in Liam wiping spunk onto a tissue. They stayed on the phone for a few more hours, Liam hanging up when he heard soft snores over the receiver. It was riding into his third week away before he was given another chance to speak to her.

His father was at work and his mother was at her own job, Ruth looked worried when he showed that he obviously had no clue that she was even employed. Nicola was out with her mates and the house was pretty much empty besides Ruth. He could take the chance to call Veronica now, his sister wouldn’t care at all or think much of it. As far as she knew, there was no reason for his phone calls to be monitored. He walked slowly down the stairs, Ruth was on the sofa lying down on her side, a bag of crisps in her hand with the remote resting on her hip. She didn’t say anything when he passed. “Hey, I’m gonna make a few phone calls, tell me if Mum or Dad are coming, alright?” Liam mentioned, to seem less suspicious.

“Yeah.” she mumbled, brushing him off with a wave of her hand. He got to the bottom of the stairs before she stopped him. “Hey, Liam…?”

Liam cringed. God, why does it sound like she wanted to ask him something deep? Out of all the people he wants to confront him, why does it have to be one of his older sisters and why now? Did he make it too obvious this call was important to him? Did he try too hard to be casual? Damnit. “Yeah?” He didn’t turn around to face her until she coughed awkwardly.

Her head was peeking shyly over the couch, her eyes averted. “Liam, are you… are you and that uhm…” she cleared her throat before continuing, Liam slowly swallowed a lump forming. “Transexual woman… really dating?” Liam’s eyes widened.

He wondered if his mother or father had said something about it, maybe to turn his sisters against him. Or maybe she just asked what’s been going on. It’s not like the unsettling silent treatment was subtle anyway, but he doubted his parents would answer truthfully.

“W-what?”

“I know! It’s such a stupid question, but some kids at my Uni, I think they’re in this LGBT group or something, I don’t know, they asked me about your girlfriend and I knew you’ve been broken up with that Sophia girl for well over a year now and-”

“Ruth.” Liam, interrupted. She stopped quickly and chewed on her bottom lip. A small part of him felt relieved, somewhat, that she found out from people who had a positive perspective of it. Also, as much as he hated to admit it, he wasn’t sure how he could or if he would ever talk about this with his sisters.

“Sorry, I wasn’t sure if I should say if you were or you weren’t because I wasn’t sure myself… I knew that you were going out to see someone, but I didn’t think…”

“Yeah.” Liam couldn’t relax his hands, his grip on the phone tense and shaky.

“How long have you-”

“About 3 months now.” Liam answered promptly and Ruth’s eyes widened, shocked and a bit embarrassed.

“Oh…” An awkward silence hung in the room before Ruth blurted out. “They thought it was pretty cool of you, they seemed really excited about it. I think they may have wanted to meet her. I’m not quite sure if they really know her much, but they’ve seen her before, said she was really lovely!”

Liam smiled awkwardly. "Yeah, she is… Roo?” She looked up at him, unable to hide her bright red embarrassment. She didn’t look angry, disgusted, disappointed or ashamed. “Thank you for this… I really can’t—”

“It’s no big deal.” She smiled. “I’m proud of you Liam.” Liam grinned softly before awkwardly shifting and pointing towards the phone.

“I’d better—”

“Call your bird? Go ahead.” She grinned and he tried his best to look annoyed.

-

Thankfully, Veronica answered on the first ring this time. “Well it’s about time! This once a week calling is making me so nervous, I thought I’d never hear from you again.”

“I should have just never called, considering you fell asleep on me last time. Also my sister… she doesn’t mind us.” Veronica gasped excitedly.

“You told her?!” She all but screamed excitedly over the phone, making Liam feel horribly guilty.

“Yeah, uhm, she found out from these people at her Uni. They said you were lovely.”

“Oh.” She sounded disappointed. “What, are we celebrities or something now?”

Liam laughed, wondering the same. Wolverhampton was huge, the Uni even bigger, he really had no idea how the rumour had reached that far, unless someone from the area mentioned it, which was likely. “Who knows, better watch out for the paps. You might end up in the Sun.”

“Perfect, just what I need! Thirty-three year old drag queen from Bradford has sexual relationship with underage teen. The perfect article to send me to prison for the next decade.”

“Well I’m not underage, I’m sixteen… and I didn’t know you were-”

Veronica groaned loudly before he could finish. “Pretend you didn’t hear me say that!” She whined miserably. “I’m still 21, okay! I told you I was an old maid.”

“You’re not old, you don’t even look your age and even if you did you still wouldn’t look old. It doesn’t matter to me, anyway.”

“Well, it matters to me. You know… I am twice your age and then some. You don’t find it odd at all? Like I might be taking advantage or you or living vicariously through you? Not that I am, but I’m sure that’d just be another obstacle that I have to get through with your parents.”

“You’re perfect. It doesn’t bother me. Also, as far as my parents go… don’t worry about what they think. I don’t... I don’t think they’re ever going to come through and accept this.”

Veronica was silent over the receiver for a moment before chuckling a bit. “So it’s that bad, huh?” Liam smiled, finding the entire situation bitter sweet. “At least you warned me instead of allowing me to embarrass myself. I appreciate that a lot. Am I going to be getting a roomie soon, or summat?” She whispered the last part as seductively as she could with her thick accent.

“Maybe, I honestly don’t know. I don’t really want to stay here much anymore. When they even bother to, they look at me like a complete stranger, like pure rubbish.”

“I’m sorry, love. I didn’t want you to have to go through this. I wouldn't have ever wanted you to deal with the shit I go through. You’re too young for it, you’ve hardly lived your life yet.”

“It’s fine, it’s not your fault they’re assholes. I honestly have no idea why I even got my hopes up… Hey, I know I brought this all up, but can we change the subject. It’s just too depressing.”

“Got it. I talked to my parents again, they decided that they’re coming over for dinner this weekend. I ran out of excuses and I really miss them all, a lot. I think I’m gonna go through with it this time. Tell them about… me.”

Liam grinned. “That’s awesome, I’m so proud of you. You deserve this. Tell me everything, good or bad, okay?. Even if you have to call my house!”

“Yeah… Hey Liam?” Liam grunted curiously in response,splayed out in his bed, he threaded his fingers through his hair. He may cut it, he wasn’t really sure yet. “This isn’t the first time I’ve tried telling them, just so you know. It’s been going on like this for ages. I try to tell them every time we meet! Sometimes I chicken out and just throw on the Zayn act and then sometimes I show up in tight jeans, nude lip and eyeshadow with my hair sitting on my shoulders and a big jumper and they’ll act like I’m not screaming for attention.” Veronica paused before continuing slowly and carefully, as if she wasn’t sure of her own words. “You ever notice that… sometimes people aren’t really trying to hear what you’ve got to say? Almost as if they already know they won’t like it?”

“You think they know about you?”

“I know they don’t. But… I don’t know what they think. They could think I’m gay and thats a lot less… alternative, innit? If they don’t want to hear that then I have no idea how they’ll react to the truth.”

Liam was confused, he wasn’t sure if it was the ignorance of her parents or just ignorance of Veronica in general and the latter of the two hurt the most. “You’ll do fine, I know you will. You’re strong like that, just hope for the best, no matter what.” He felt like a hypocrite saying that, but they were the only words of support he could offer. Veronica hadn’t said anything yet, her small slow breaths the only thing coming out of the receiver, and he was starting to think he’d said the wrong thing. “Still there, babe?” He mumbled before the line went completely dead. Slowly he pulled the phone away from his face, the screen had thick black letters across the scene alerting him the phone was disconnected. Shit.

Did he miss Ruth’s warning? Was there even a warning? Liam frowned, soft footsteps were coming up the stairs and just as Liam was getting up to hide the phone, a solemn looking Ruth opened the door.

“Dad wants you downstairs.” She paused and her voiced cracked and crumbled as she belted out a jumbled sentence. “I’m so sorry, Liam, I didn’t know they were acting so weird because of this. I’m so sorry, I didn’t even think about it when they came in, I completely forgot!”

“It’s okay…” His grip on the phone tightened. Of course they’re doing this now. Some sort of divine intervention. What do they expect him to do? Do they want him to just drop all ties with her all of a sudden?  Will that erase his sexuality? Is he going to change or something? Wass it that hard for them to realize that he wasn’t going to change because they didn’t like it. He had hopes for both of them to come through or at least try to and this is the outcome. Liam’s grip didn’t loosen until he felt the phone begin to cave in his hand. He needed to take a few deep breaths before going to them. Ruth was here, he didn’t need to throw another fit and make things even crazier in the family.

They were in the living room, seated next to the pulled phone cord and he wondered how long they’d been waiting for him, the scene all set up. His mother looked disappointed and angry, his father just carried a look of pure hatred on his face. Liam flinched a little when he heard Ruth stop a few steps behind him.

“We gave you so many chances, Liam.” his mother said, tone just above a whisper. “Why are you continuing to do this?”

“Ruth, go upstairs.” It shocked Liam when he heard his father speak again after this long, and yet he still hasn’t said anything to him.

“I think we should give her a chance--” Ruth whispered meekly, but still stood her ground, looking them directly in the eye.

His mother looked speechless. “Really Liam?! You’re bringing your sisters into this too? Did you lie to them like you lied to us?” Ruth started to interrupt, but was quickly shot down. “Do not say anything! Liam, this has gone on for too long. I can’t believe I didn’t catch on to this any sooner! There were so many red flags...” His mother’s voice began to sound more and more pitiful and on the verge of tears, as if this was the worst possible thing to happen to him. “I’ve talked with your aunt and she says she’ll let you stay-”

“I’m not leaving.” Liam looked between the two of them, apparent shock written on their faces.

“Are you out of your God given mind?! You are leaving!” His father screamed at him, the first words he’d said to him in nearly a month. “Because obviously you’ve lost your damned mind here! Do you even realize the mess you’ve made for this family and yourself? Really, Liam, what kind of idiot have you turned yourself into the last few months?”

“So, I’m an idiot now?” Liam pursed his lips before outright scowling. “You can’t tell me what's wrong with us being together. I don’t mean wrong as in what you find immoral or disgusting. I mean wrong as in who is it hurting! What damage are we doing by being together!”

“Oh grow up Liam!” His mother’s yelling were starting to sound more and more like pleas and Ruth’s heavy breathing behind him wasn’t making matters any better with him standing his ground.

“Truly wrong? What does that even mean? What wouldn’t be truly wrong about suddenly turning into some perverted queer?!”

“Dad!” Ruth sounded nothing less that shocked and offended, while his mother simply pursed her lips. He wasn’t sure if it was because of the degree of those words or the meaning of them, because he knew she wasn’t bothered they were being used on him.

“So that’s what this is about then?” Liam chucked bitterly. “Me getting bullied wasn’t really one of your problems with this at all, was it? Would it have bothered you less if I was being bullied for being fat like I used to be?”

“Liam, don’t.”

“No.” Liam bit back at his mother’s comment, her lips formed an even tighter line “I’m honestly curious if you really cared about the bullying or the reason for it. I mean, sure make fun of the lard ass, but God forbid that anyone knows my kid likes dick in frilly pants!”

Before Liam could react, he was shoved into the counter, his lower back radiated pain, crushed gainst the hard plastic. “Don’t fucking touch me!” He yelled, shoving back at the older man in vain. A sharp pain stung his cheek and he couldn’t get the stars out of his eyes and ringing out of his ears. There were faint sounds that he recognized as yelling before another blow came, then a third, and soon he found himself on the ground. He was too proud to cower, but the way his father stood over him, yelling something he could barely hear over the ringing made him feel weak.

His father left with one last look of abhorrence, his mother following close behind with a shocked and pained expression on her face. Liam winced bitterly, rolling over slightly and pushing himself off the ground. They both left him, he needed to leave this place. He needed to leave now.


	10. Chapter 10

Ruth stood over him, tears in her eyes and shaking her head.

“Liam… I”

Liam stopped her before she could finish. He groaned and leaned back onto the counter he was beat on, his head radiating with pain and nose leaking with blood. “What’d he say?”

More tears poured out of Ruth’s eyes, her hands barely stopping the flow. “He said he wanted you out before he gets back… I don’t even know where he went. Nicola needs a ride back home, I think Mum left with him. This is bullshit. I can’t believe he would say that! Where would you even stay?”

“Veronica, my… girlfriend said I could stay at her house if I needed to.” Liam mumbled to her, blushing awkwardly at the title.

“Okay. Okay… are you sure you want to leave though? Maybe he left to cool off or maybe he wants to think about it-”

“I’m pretty sure he just doesn’t want to be in my presence.” Ruth looked at him pitifully to which he just sighed. “Sorry… but, lets be real, he fucking hates me. I’m not going to stay here and deal with him any longer if this is how he’s going to treat me. He already made his decision.” Ruth nodded at this and there was an awkward pause before Liam spoke again. “I’m gonna ask Veronica if she’ll pick up Nicola, do you want to come?” Ruth blushed and cringed a little.

“I mean… of course but-... would it be weird?”

“Yeah, it will be weird.” Liam grinned. “But she’s good with these types of situations and meeting new people. Don’t worry about it, she’s lovely.” Ruth smiled lightly and nodded again. “I’ll call her now… just uh- sit tight.” Liam awkwardly took the phone and fixed the connection to where his parents had pulled it. He left the room to dial Veronica’s number, not trusting himself to cry to her and he didn’t want to worry Ruth.

Veronica picked up almost immediately, sounding completely horrified. “Liam are you okay! ? Oh God, please say nothing happened.”

“I’m… relatively fine, I-... do you think I could crash at your place for a while.”

Veronica whined sadly. “I knew this would happen. Are you okay?” she sounded guilty and it made Liam feel awful and sort of angrier at his parents but he shook it off quickly.

“I’ll explain everything when I see you… could you take me to pick my older sister up and can my other sister come along?” Veronica was quiet for a moment and he swear he could hear her lips quirk up into a shy grin.

“Absolutely, I’m leaving out now. You live just down the street right?”

“Yeah, we’ll be outside waiting for you, just… look out for us.” Veronica grunted in approval, said a quick “love you” and hung up. Liam tried his best to contain his smile when he walked back into the kitchen. Ruth was seated next to a chair that was thrown about in the ruckus, texting Nicola. “She’ll be here in a sec. I’m gonna grab my clothes and we’ll wait for her outside.” Ruth stood up, hesitating a bit and Liam frowned. “She’s really nice, I promise.”

“I’m sure she is!” Ruth paused. “I’m just nervous, I guess, don’t mind me.” Liam looked her over one last time before heading out the door. Not too much longer afterwards, Veronica pulled up to the sidewalk, lips pursed embarrassedly before waving out the window. Ruth flinched and then waved back as Liam started towards the car.

Liam slid into the passengers seat, smiling softly at Veronica first before giving directions to Nicola’s location and introducing Ruth “Hey babe, this is my sister Roo. The one I told you about over the phone.”

Veronica smiled shyly, again, into the rearview mirror. “It’s nice to meet you, Ruth.” she sounded so polite saying it, the Bradford twang slipping away, Liam almost couldn’t believe it was her.

“Nice to meet you too, I’ve heard a lot of nice things about you.” Ruth managed to stutter out. Veronica smiled happily and just as Liam thinks she’s going to make another comment she glances down into her lap and then focuses steadily on the road. Eventually, after a long quiet drive, they arrive at the place Nicola is waiting. Ruth offers to go inside to get her and Liam assumes that she’s going to explain the entire situation to her.

Liam stares at Veronica for a moment until he’s completely sure that she knows he’s looking. “They cut the phone off on me and sent Ruth upstairs to tell me to come downstairs and that’s when my mum told me they wanted to send me to my aunt’s house so I can get away from you.” Veronica furrowed her eyebrows and sighed miserably, mumbling something he couldn’t understand. “So I told them that I wasn’t going to leave and- he didn’t say a word to me up until this point- my dad, he just flipped out on me. Like he called me an idiot and a-” Liam groaned and slammed his fist onto the dashboard. “-he called me a fucking perverted queer! Honestly, at this point I just knew there was no way to get to them and I just didn’t understand why so I stopped censoring myself completely just to stay on their better side. I called him out on not really caring whether or not I was bullied for it because if it was anything else they wouldn’t fucking demand that I change.” Liam leaned back into the passenger seat, palm cupping his forehead and Veronica reached over to grab his hand.

Liam watched Ruth and Nicola slowly walk out of the building, Nicola was staring into the car directly at Veronica with a perturbed expression on her face. Luckily, Veronica was completely unaware. “So he just attacks me. He beat the hell out of me, now he’s off somewhere and-... I don’t know. I don’t care anymore.”

Veronica stared at him for a moment, eyebrows furrowed, her was expression sullen. “Liam… what exactly are you?”

Liam’s face reddened. He wasn’t exactly sure of that answer himself, he knew he liked Veronica. He liked her voice and her parts and her short hair and the makeup she wore on her way to work and her bum and hips and the perfume she wears that smells like clean sheets. It was complicated, to say the least.

“I’m sorry…” Veronica mumbled, slowly letting go of his hand. “It’s not that I don’t think you don’t like me but… you’re putting a lot on the line. You’re so young and-- I mean…” Veronica sighed. “Promise me you won’t regret this. I’m so much older than you. It took me so long to get to this point, it’s amazing to me how quickly you just accepted it and fought for it like that… I want to be with you a long time, Liam.”

“I want to be with you a long time too, babe.” Liam tried to look sincere but he couldn’t tell if she’d trust his words right now. Taking her in, he noticed how Veronica’s eyes shone under the moonlight, the blue light illuminating her olive skin. He was so worked up that he didn’t notice how beautiful she looked that night.

Right then, she looked upset but his sisters were a few feet away from the car so he wouldn’t ask why. Ruth was the first to get in, smiling nervously. Nicola slowly slid into the back seat alongside her wearing the same expression but with a different motive. Nicola was staring at him very hard, she wanted to say something but he couldn’t tell what. She didn’t seem angry, not even disappointed. Her expression was almost completely unreadable.

Veronica didn’t seem to notice, pursing her lips satisfied. Ruth asked her something and they went back and forth with mindless chit chat. He could hear Nicola join them, chuckling whenever they did. He wondered what Ruth had said to her. He should be happy that she’s reacting this way but something’s off.

Veronica pulled into their driveway, their parents were still gone. Aside from Nicola, everyone in the car seemed relieved. They said their goodbyes and Ruth suggested -and Veronica insisted- Liam get out and give them hugs.

They weren’t too far away from the car but just enough out of earshot for Nicola to finally let out what she needed to say. Her back was turned to Veronica, her arms wrapped around his shoulders. “Don’t be an idiot, Liam. I’m not saying it’s wrong but this is a completely differen’t world, okay. Just apologize to them and come home…” Nicola pulled away and glared at him sternly for a moment before heading towards the house. Ruth looked embarrassed when she hugged him.

“Sorry, I’m gonna try and talk to her more. See you later?” Liam nodded and pulled away. Veronica seemed oblivious to the exchange, flicking through the radio stations. When he pulled open the door she lifted her head, looking overly happy.

“They seemed really nice!” Veronica cheesed. “That was pleasantly surprising. I was so worried about them interrogating me or something crazy like that. Maybe I was just being paranoid.”

“Maybe.” Liam forced a smile, he felt bad knowing that Nicola was against this and was just playing nice. He knew how Veronica was about trusting people and she seemed to genuinely like Nicola. But he’d rather her being ignorant about the ordeal than telling her outright that Nicola would be much happier to have nothing to do with her.

His stress must have shown on his face because Veronica reached over and smiled solemnly at him. “Hey… I know this is scary right now. It’s a big move but, I’m here with you. As long as you and I are together then nothing else matters, okay.” Liam smiled. Right, he was going to be staying with Veronica now. It wasn’t the path he’d planned on taking but he’s here now and he got most of what he wanted. There’s things he’d like to change but otherwise, he’s satisfied.


End file.
